Roger Williams, born Louis Jacob Weertz on October 1, 1924 and died October 8, 2011, was an American popular music piano player. He had released 116 albums as of 2004. He was the son of a Lutheran minister, Rev. Frederick J. Weertz (1891-1980), and Dorothea Bang Weertz (1895-1985), were his parents. They lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Before his first birthday, the family moved to Des Moines in Iowa. At the age of three, he was playing his first piano. He became interested in boxing at the insistence of his father. After breaking his nose multiple times and suffering other injuries, he returned to music. Drake University in Des Moines was his major in piano. However, he claimed that he was expelled from the practice room for playing “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”. Weertz enlisted in the United States Navy, and served during World War II. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1950 from Idaho State College, now Idaho State University. After completing his bachelor’s degree at the Navy, Weertz returned to Drake and earned his master’s. After graduating from Juilliard in New York City, Weertz moved to New York City where he continued his studies at jazz piano under Lennie Tristano (and Teddy Wilson). Williams was selected to compete in a talent contest for Chance of a Lifetime, a television program hosted by Dennis James. David Kapp, the founder of Kapp Records, heard him. Kapp was so impressed, he signed the pianist and changed his name to Roger Williams after Rhode Island’s founder. 1955 saw Williams record “Autumn Leaves,” the first piano instrumental to hit #1 on Billboard’s pop music charts. It was a huge success and won a gold disc. It was the fourth top-selling song in the “rock era”, which began unofficially with Bill Haley’s ascension to “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock”.
