Editing Clarence Williams (musician) (section)

==Biography==
Williams was born in [[Plaquemine, Louisiana]], to Dennis, a bassist, and Sally Williams, and ran away from home at age 12 to join [[Billy Kersands]]' Traveling [[Minstrel Show]], then moved to [[New Orleans]]. At first, Williams worked shining shoes and doing odd jobs, but soon became known as a singer and master of ceremonies. By the early 1910s, he was a well-regarded local entertainer also playing piano, and was composing new tunes by 1913. Williams was a good businessman and worked arranging and managing entertainment at the local [[African American]] [[vaudeville]] theater as well as at various saloons and dance halls around [[Rampart Street]], and at clubs and houses in [[Storyville, New Orleans|Storyville]].<ref name=williams>{{cite web |title=Clarence Williams Biography |url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/index.php/exhibits/bio/C286 |publisher=[[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222123/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/index.php/exhibits/bio/C286 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 2, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=clarence>{{cite web |title=The Music of Clarence Williams |url=http://www.basinstreet.com/articles/clarence.htm |publisher=Basin Street |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017004135/http://www.basinstreet.com/articles/clarence.htm |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 2, 2014 }}</ref>

Williams started a music publishing business with violinist/bandleader [[Armand J. Piron]] in 1915, which by the 1920s was the leading African-American owned music publisher in the country. He toured briefly with [[W. C. Handy]], set up a publishing office in Chicago, then settled in New York in the early 1920s. In 1921, he married [[blues]] singer and stage actress [[Eva Taylor]], with whom he would frequently perform.<ref name=williams /><ref name=clarence /> They moved to [[Jamaica, Queens|Queens]] in the 1920s with the intention of creating a community of black artists. He envisioned a space where African American artists could live, work, and collaborate together, free from the racial discrimination and segregation that was prevalent in other parts of the city at the time.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://untappedcities.com/2013/12/12/fun-maps-the-queens-jazz-trail-by-ephemera-press/ | title=Fun Maps: The Queens Jazz Trail by Ephemera Press|website=Untappedcities.com | date=12 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://hdc.org/hdc-across-nyc/queens/queens-landmarked/addisleigh-park/ | title=Addisleigh Park &#124; HDC|website=Hdc.org | date=31 August 2012 }}</ref>

Williams and his wife, Eva Taylor, purchased a large house on Ruscoe Street (108th Ave near [[St. Albans, Queens#Addisleigh Park subsection|Addisleigh Park]])<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.qchron.com/qboro/stories/a-self-guided-jazz-tour-through-queens/article_db2caed1-ad31-5643-a3da-d5de449ed500.html | title=A self-guided jazz tour through Queens|website=Qchron.com| date=30 January 2014}}</ref> and turned it into a gathering place for black artists, musicians, and intellectuals. They hosted regular parties and events, which attracted many notable figures from the Harlem Renaissance, including [[Langston Hughes]], [[Zora Neale Hurston]], and [[Duke Ellington]].<ref>[https://s3.amazhttps://hdc.org/hdc-across-nyc/queens/queens-landmarked/addisleigh-park/onaws.com/images.icompendium.com/sites/spaceal1/sup/2992181-Essay-by-Kwami-Coleman.pdf] {{dead link|date=April 2023}}</ref>