Howard Williams with some of his favorite photos and Bonnie Leavy-Mello, community coordinator, Laurel Ridge Health Care Center, who is holding a collector’s vinyl 33-1/3 album on which Mr. Williams is pictured third trombonist from the left.
Not one to blow his own horn, Howard Williams was a middle school student growing up Scranton, Pa., in a musical family, with parents who encouraged him to take trombone lessons, when he met Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt, first trombone with the Philadelphia Orchestra and arguably one of the greatest minds in brass pedagogy.
Mr. Williams, who now lives in Ridgefield, is the only living member of the original Glenn Miller Orchestra.
“I expect you to work hard. I want three hours of practicing a day,” Dr. Reinhardt warned the young Mr. Williams, who would travel every week for about 13 years by bus to Philadelphia for trombone lessons. In Philadelphia, he got to hear all the big bands of the day while honing his skills.
Even though he grew up in a mining town, there was a music culture there and, at an early age, Mr. Williams set his sights high. It was ambitious just to study with Dr. Reinhardt, whose other students included Ray Coniff and Nelson Riddle. Mr. Williams went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music from Mansfield State College in 1950, a master of science and music education degree from Ithaca College in 1961, and a master of education from Columbia in 1973.
For Howard, a modest man who never mentions his talent as a trombonist, getting to the Glenn Miller Orchestra was all about the friends and connections he made along the way.
“I could never have made it without them — and great connections. I have found that wherever I have been with music, there have been wonderful people. I have had a wonderful life musically. I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Everything dropped in my hands at the right time, if you know what I mean.”
While teaching music at Crestwood High School in a small district near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1965, Mr. Williams was also playing in a local touring band, and he was heard by Ray McKinley, who later led the New Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1956 to 1966 after Glenn died over the English Channel in 1944. Mr. McKinley approached him with an offer.
Mr. Williams described that day.
“Is this the Williams guy you were talking about?” Mr. McKinley said. “When can you join me? You’ve got it. You want it? I want you! Can you be at the Hotel Pennsylvania a week from tomorrow?”
The next day Mr. Williams sought an eight-month leave of absence from the school board.
When asked about his most memorable experiences, Howard recounted the preparation he received from the State Department before leaving on tour to complete what Glenn Miller had started in England.
“We were told to be careful of what we said. If they ask whether you are a communist or capitalist, just say ‘We are artists’ as your stock answer, and they won’t bother you.” This proved to be good instruction to follow, Howard said, as he recounted the day they were interrogated on a train while traveling behind the Iron Curtain after World War II.
As the first band to go behind the Iron Curtain, they performed in Warsaw, Poland, among many other cities, then continued on to North Africa and Cairo. “Warsaw was in bad shape with ruins all over the place … but they loved music.” In Russia, Mr. Williams found “one of most beautiful concert halls I had ever been in” and was on cloud nine to be introduced as “First trombone, Howard Williams and just stand in place with my horn. That was thrilling.”
The world traveling Mr. Williams settled in Ridgefield to teach music at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury from 1965 to 1988 and later became an adjunct professor. He was also principal trombone with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra from 1976 to 1982 where he said he got to play the coveted trombone solo from Ravel’s Bolero.
Today Mr. Williams reports he still loves to play the whole Glenn Miller songbook. “I enjoyed every minute with that band. I learned a lot. I talked to people from all walks of life.” Now he’s is in charge of “all the jazz” at Ridgefield Crossings/Laurel Ridge, which fosters a culture of music among the residents, several of whom are musicians.
Orchestra at the Playhouse
When the Glenn Miller Orchestra comes to the Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, July 12, Howard will be in a VIP seat listening to all the timeless music that has special meaning to him: Moonlight Serenade, A String of Pearls, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Pennsylvania 6-5000, At Last, In the Mood, Stardust and many more. He knows them all.
Tickets are $38 and include a wine & cheese tasting by No. 109 Cheese & Wine in the lobby from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. plus a reception with conceptual artist Gregg Welz, courtesy of Rockwell Art and Framing: 203-438-5795 box office; ridgefieldplayhouse.org. Laurel Ridge Health Care Center is a partial underwriter for this show and collaborated with Ridgefield Crossings to make this interview possible. For more information visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.