Although he never became a "star," Williams was seemingly everywhere during the '60s, performing and recording in a number of high profile situations under such leaders as Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, and Yusef Lateef. Inspired by bop trumpeter Fats Navarro and saxophonist Charlie Parker, Williams began playing tenor sax before switching to trumpet in his teens. During the early '50s he played around his home in Texas and received his degree in music from Wiley College. He served in the air force; upon his discharge in 1956 he toured Europe with Lionel Hampton's band. He returned to the USA and studied further at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, receiving his master's degree in music. He career began to take off in the late '50s and early '60s. When Mingus organized a new band for the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival, he chose Williams.
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