Claude "Fiddler" Williams Collection

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...

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...

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...

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, with his side to the camera, speaks to someone across the stage that is out of the photograph as an unidentified white woman stands beside him presenting him with a birthday...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams sits a bit sideways in a folding chair jamming with two seated, unidentified white male guitarists. Someone stands on the left side of the photograph mostly out of the...

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...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams closes his eyes and grimaces as the plays his fiddle on the stage of the West End Gate bar in New York, N.Y. An unidentified African American man stands in the center of the...

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...

Claude "Fiddler" Williams sits on barstool as he plays his fiddle and performs at the Savoy Lounge, 355 W. 41st Street in the Manhattan borough in New York City, New York. A sign hanging by chains on...

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...

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...

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 sits in a wheelchair playing his fiddle in front of a big band of white men playing their instruments. Three large floor-to-ceiling windows cross the wall beside the band. An...