Big Joe Turner (1911-85) was a major blues singer when he was performing in Kansas City with pianist Pete Johnson in the 1930s, and he was still at the top of his field in the 1980s.
Joe Williams (1918-1999), who was active in the late 1930s but did not hit it big until the 1950s, sang a wider variety of music and loved to perform ballads, but he had his greatest hits performing his brand of blues with Count Basie in the 50s.
The two giants rarely performed together so their collaboration on this television appearance (probably from around 1983) with a group that includes trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison and pianist Gerald Wiggins, bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Gerryck King (who supplied the clip) is particularly special and unique.
-Scott Yanow
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