Kelseyville >> At just 14-years-old, Andre Williams III is well on his way to becoming an accomplished pianist. The classical and anime pianist just recorded his first CD, which he’s calling “Run and Play”, a reference to the fact that when Williams isn’t at the keyboards, he’s most likely to be found outside working his legs.
“He’s an amazing piano player and the only thing that surpasses that in his life is his ability to run,” said Tommy Rox, the executive producer and producer of Williams’s CD.
It was Rox’s idea that Williams record an album. Rox, a professional band leader and guitar player for 40 years, recognizes talent when he sees it. After he met Williams, he thought to himself, “Boy this kid is dedicated, what can I do to give back?”
When Rox witnessed Williams’s tireless hard work, both on his music and his sport, he knew he wanted to help Williams put out a CD. “He’s just incredibly dedicated to his instrument, as much as he is to his running,” Rox said. “He deserves it as hard as he’s working.”
So Rox approached Williams about putting a collection of songs together. Though Williams resisted at first thanks to a heavy dose of nerves, he gave it some thought. Williams realized he wanted more people to hear the music he loves.
“I agreed to it because I wanted to spread anime music to more people,” he said.
It took Williams, Rox, and Mary Jo McNulty, William’s grandmother and co-producer, a few weeks to put together the entire CD, though they recorded the songs in five straight hours one afternoon. Locals gave them a hand, with Andi Gletty creating the cover art, Earl Boisclair designing the CD art and Frank Fraza, who rented out his recording studio to Rox for an affordable rate.
The CD consists of four songs: two of Williams’s favorite anime numbers and two classical piano pieces everyone will recognize. “It’s not like pop songs where it’s the same four chords for every song,” Williams described the CD. “It’s a lot different and it has a lot of different emotion.”
The release party for “Run and Play” is tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Riviera Hills Country Club in Kelseyville. The CD will be for sale for $5.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
