Biography
Jamire Williams operates as a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary creator whose roles encompass performance art, drumming, composition, and production. Alongside mounting exhibitions and developing installations, he directs his own ensembles while remaining a preferred collaborator for Herbie Hancock, Solange Knowles, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Christian Scott, and many additional artists. He also continues to drum for avant-pop artist Blood Orange. His recordings resist straightforward classification. The 2012 release Conflict of a Man came from ERIMAJ, the jazz/hip-hop/rock band he co-led with Corey King. In 2016 he issued ///Effectual. Pianist/artist Jason Moran chose him for the Bandwagon trio alongside trumpeter Graham Haynes on MASS {Howl, eon}. International Anthem put out But Only After You Have Suffered in 2021.
Born in Houston, Texas, Williams absorbed MTV-driven culture during the 1990s, absorbing every strain of hip-hop, grunge, and contemporary gospel. Drum study began in elementary school, followed by a gravitation toward jazz once he reached high school. His mother, herself a singer and pianist, introduced him to George Duke, Patrice Rushen, Chick Corea, Hancock, and similar artists, while his father maintained a steady stream of Prince, Sly, George Clinton, and Rick James. He graduated from the famed Houston High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, then relocated to New York City, where he earned a B.F.A. in Jazz and Contemporary Music from The New School and received the institution’s Young Beacon of Music Award.
His first recording credit arrived as a student on saxophonist Jure Puki’s 2004 quintet album Serendipity, which also featured pianist Leo Genovese, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, and bassist Massimo Biolcati. Appearances on rapper Wajeed’s The War LP followed in 2007, after which he joined trumpeter Christian Scott’s touring group in 2008, first documented on Live at Newport. That same year he contributed to Kenny Garrett’s Sketches of MD (Live at the Iridium Featuring Pharoah Sanders) and trumpeter David Weiss’s Snuck In and Snuck Out.
Work with organist Dr. Lonnie Smith commenced in 2009, coinciding with the formation of the ERIMAJ project that later yielded the full-length Conflict of a Man. Smith’s Spiral appeared in 2010 along with Scott’s Yesterday You Said Tomorrow and pianist Jacky Terrasson’s Push. Following extended tours with both Scott and Smith, Williams participated on the organist’s 2012 album The Healer and on the trumpeter’s Christian Atunde Adjuah; the self-titled ERIMAJ recording with Corey King also surfaced that year and drew strong notice from the indie music press.
The ensuing four years involved continued ERIMAJ activity, a move to Los Angeles, visual-art production, and session and live work with an array of artists including Jeff Parker, Maya Hatch, Kris Bowers, and Next Collective. Carlos Niño & Friends recruited him for Flutes, Echoes, It’s All Happening!, and Niño later produced the drummer’s ///Effectual, whose ten tracks placed extended avant-garde drum solos within vanguard electronics and expansive production, ultimately probing the question “what is a song?”
During 2017 Williams toured with Hancock and others while joining Jason Moran’s Bandwagon trio with trumpeter Graham Haynes for MASS {Howl, eon}, a soundtrack for two Julie Mehretu paintings of the same titles created inside a Harlem church as the pianist composed from the balcony. The trio captured the album in that same space. That year also brought appearances with Moses Sumney on Aromanticism and Fergie on Double Dutchess. Most of 2018 was devoted to touring and visual-art work.
The 2019 calendar included the Gaslamp Killer’s Heart Match and fellow Houston native Solange Knowles’ Top Ten album When I Get Home, along with its accompanying tour. The following year he appeared on Jose James’ No Beginning No End 2 and Jeff Parker’s widely acclaimed Suite for Max Brown. In 2021 he rejoined Carlos Niño & Friends on More Energy Fields, Current and surfaced on saxophonist Sam Gendel’s Fresh Bread.
Chicago’s International Anthem signed Williams in spring 2021. September brought the single “Hands Up,” followed by “Safe Travels” (feat. Fat Tony & Zeroh) and “Pause in His Presence” (feat. Lisa E. Harris and Sam Gendel). October saw the self-produced sophomore solo album But Only After You Have Suffered on the label. The project assembled a large ensemble that featured Moran, Gendel, bassist Burniss Travis, guitarist Matthew Stevens, electronicists Chassol and Niño, plus nine singers and/or rappers including King, Harris, Kenneth Whalum, and Mic Holden. A self-reflective spiritual, autobiographical, and artistic statement, the recording merged sound collage with modern jazz composition, beat production, MC/vocalist features, and Williams’ distinctly expressionistic drumming.
Born in Houston, Texas, Williams absorbed MTV-driven culture during the 1990s, absorbing every strain of hip-hop, grunge, and contemporary gospel. Drum study began in elementary school, followed by a gravitation toward jazz once he reached high school. His mother, herself a singer and pianist, introduced him to George Duke, Patrice Rushen, Chick Corea, Hancock, and similar artists, while his father maintained a steady stream of Prince, Sly, George Clinton, and Rick James. He graduated from the famed Houston High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, then relocated to New York City, where he earned a B.F.A. in Jazz and Contemporary Music from The New School and received the institution’s Young Beacon of Music Award.
His first recording credit arrived as a student on saxophonist Jure Puki’s 2004 quintet album Serendipity, which also featured pianist Leo Genovese, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, and bassist Massimo Biolcati. Appearances on rapper Wajeed’s The War LP followed in 2007, after which he joined trumpeter Christian Scott’s touring group in 2008, first documented on Live at Newport. That same year he contributed to Kenny Garrett’s Sketches of MD (Live at the Iridium Featuring Pharoah Sanders) and trumpeter David Weiss’s Snuck In and Snuck Out.
Work with organist Dr. Lonnie Smith commenced in 2009, coinciding with the formation of the ERIMAJ project that later yielded the full-length Conflict of a Man. Smith’s Spiral appeared in 2010 along with Scott’s Yesterday You Said Tomorrow and pianist Jacky Terrasson’s Push. Following extended tours with both Scott and Smith, Williams participated on the organist’s 2012 album The Healer and on the trumpeter’s Christian Atunde Adjuah; the self-titled ERIMAJ recording with Corey King also surfaced that year and drew strong notice from the indie music press.
The ensuing four years involved continued ERIMAJ activity, a move to Los Angeles, visual-art production, and session and live work with an array of artists including Jeff Parker, Maya Hatch, Kris Bowers, and Next Collective. Carlos Niño & Friends recruited him for Flutes, Echoes, It’s All Happening!, and Niño later produced the drummer’s ///Effectual, whose ten tracks placed extended avant-garde drum solos within vanguard electronics and expansive production, ultimately probing the question “what is a song?”
During 2017 Williams toured with Hancock and others while joining Jason Moran’s Bandwagon trio with trumpeter Graham Haynes for MASS {Howl, eon}, a soundtrack for two Julie Mehretu paintings of the same titles created inside a Harlem church as the pianist composed from the balcony. The trio captured the album in that same space. That year also brought appearances with Moses Sumney on Aromanticism and Fergie on Double Dutchess. Most of 2018 was devoted to touring and visual-art work.
The 2019 calendar included the Gaslamp Killer’s Heart Match and fellow Houston native Solange Knowles’ Top Ten album When I Get Home, along with its accompanying tour. The following year he appeared on Jose James’ No Beginning No End 2 and Jeff Parker’s widely acclaimed Suite for Max Brown. In 2021 he rejoined Carlos Niño & Friends on More Energy Fields, Current and surfaced on saxophonist Sam Gendel’s Fresh Bread.
Chicago’s International Anthem signed Williams in spring 2021. September brought the single “Hands Up,” followed by “Safe Travels” (feat. Fat Tony & Zeroh) and “Pause in His Presence” (feat. Lisa E. Harris and Sam Gendel). October saw the self-produced sophomore solo album But Only After You Have Suffered on the label. The project assembled a large ensemble that featured Moran, Gendel, bassist Burniss Travis, guitarist Matthew Stevens, electronicists Chassol and Niño, plus nine singers and/or rappers including King, Harris, Kenneth Whalum, and Mic Holden. A self-reflective spiritual, autobiographical, and artistic statement, the recording merged sound collage with modern jazz composition, beat production, MC/vocalist features, and Williams’ distinctly expressionistic drumming.
Albums
