He served his National Service in the military in the late 1950s, then joined the trad jazz group of trumpeter Mike Peters and worked with Terry Lightfoot in the early 1960s.
[3] In 1965, Williams became a member of Alex Welsh's band,[1] which accompanied Ruby Braff, Wild Bill Davison, and Bud Freeman.
He was a sideman for Doc Cheatham, Jim Galloway, Buddy Tate, the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, the World's Greatest Jazz Band, Peanuts Hucko, Bent Persson, Bob Rosengarden, Stan Barker, Bob Wilber, Digby Fairweather, Pete Strange, and Keith Smith.
[3] In July 2016 Williams performed at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival with bandleader John Burgess at a tribute concert entitled Remembering Alex Welsh.
Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to jazz.