Claude "Fiddler" Williams Collection

Claude "Fiddler" Williams smiles at the camera as he stands on stage at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, snapping his fingers of his right hand as he holds his fiddle and...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams grins at the camera as he walks by the baby grand piano holding his fiddle and bow in his left hand as he performs at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City...

Left to right: Big Bill Bissonnette, trombone, from his right side; Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, drums, looking down and wearing a hat; Charlie Gabriel, saxophone, eyes closed in the foreground playing...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams focuses on his fiddle as he performs at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Richard Ross, singer, stands beside Claude on stage waiting for his...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams stands in the center of a school auditorium stage performing on his fiddle. Marcus Belgrave walks toward Claude with a microphone held shoulder high with his left hand. An...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams has a big grin on his face as he takes a little side step on stage, pumps the fist of his right hand, and holds his bow and fiddle down by his leg with his left hand. Larry...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams performing on stage with an incarnation of the Statesmen of Jazz with Jane Jarvis, seated at the piano on the farthest left side of the photograph. Joe Wilder playing...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams performing on stage with an incarnation of the Statesmen of Jazz with Jane Jarvis, seated at the piano on the farthest left side of the photograph. Joe Wilder playing...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams focuses on his fiddle as he performs at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Richard Ross, singer, stands beside Claude on stage waiting for his...

African American and white students sit in rows of chairs in an auditorium watching Claude "Fiddler" Williams listen to an unidentified white female fiddler play with an unidentified white female...

African American and white students sit in rows of chairs in an auditorium watching Claude "Fiddler" Williams perform with an unidentified white female double bass player and a seated white male jazz...

African American and white students sit in rows of chairs in an auditorium watching Claude "Fiddler" Williams perform with another, white female, fiddler, and a double bass player completely obscured...

An unidentified white male pianist, farthest left in the photograph, sits diagonally on the piano bench, turns his body toward the keys, and closes his eyes as he plays. Standing beside the bench...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams stands and faces the center of the stage as he plays his fiddle with a fiddler Matt Glaser and a group of unidentified white musicians including, a seated guitarist, and a...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams moves his feet and leans into the music as he plays his fiddle at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Larry Holloway plays a double bass on the...

Frank Smith, piano, on the left side of the photograph, turns his head to looks seriously at the photographer as he plays a piano he is seated at. Behind and completely obscured by Frank is a double...

In a photograph from the side of the stage at the Levee Bar & Grill on 43rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, Claude "Fiddler" Williams stands on the edge of the stage playing his fiddle and facing the...

Eddie Saunders is mostly out of the photograph on the left side with his saxophone lying across his lap. He sits next to Claude "Fiddler" Williams who is likely playing a harmonica with both hands...

The photographer's finger is partially over the lens as the camera caught a photo of the Garage Band at Kim Park's white brick house. Farthest to the left, an unidentified white woman stands with her...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams plays his fiddle center stage as he performs as part of a quartet of unidentified African American male jazz musicians including baby grand piano, a double bass, and a drum...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams stands on the interior steps of the Jazz Church, Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, 54th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, smiling as he plays his fiddle with...

A drum set on the left side of the photograph is too dark to see the drummer; likely Jerome Harris. Dan Pliskow, double bass player, looks left toward the guitarist as he plays. Claude "Fiddler"...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams bends at the knees and smiles as he stands and plays his fiddle with a seated guitarist and a double bass player. The unidentified white male guitarist laughs as he looks up...

African American and white students sit in rows of chairs in an auditorium watching Claude "Fiddler" Williams speak into a microphone as an unidentifed white female fiddler player and double bass...

African American and white students sit in rows of chairs in an auditorium watching Claude "Fiddler" Williams speak as an unidentifed white female fiddle player and double bass player, and an...