The Roger Williams Collection 1954-62

Very few instrumentalists can match the chart success of American pianist Roger Williams, who had well over thirty chart entries during his career, and came to fame with his 1955 debut hit “Autumn Leaves”, which remains the only piano instrumental to reach No. 1 in the Billboard pop charts, selling over two million copies in the process. A classically-trained pianist, who also studied jazz piano at New York’s renowned Juilliard School of Music, he was signed to the Kapp label after winning a talent contest, and was launched to fame with his second release for the label. This great-value 51-track 2-CD collection is drawn entirely from his A and B sides released by Kapp during the period, with the majority of his releases during the period represented by at least one side, with both the A and B sides of many of his releases included. It naturally includes all of the eighteen Billboard or Cash Box chart entries he achieved during this era, notably the Top 10 hit “Near You” as well as “Autumn Leaves”, and features his versions of many of the fine melodies of the times such as “The Warsaw Concerto (The World Outside)”, “Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1” and “The Skater’s Waltz”, characterised by lush orchestral accompaniments, plus his hit duet with singer Jane Morgan “Two Different Worlds”.