Although he’s painstakingly trimmed his record collection from an unwieldy 30,000 LPs to a more manageable 6,000, Montreal-based DJ, radio host and educator Andy Williams clearly lives to make new discoveries.

“I’m always challenging myself to open up to different things,” he says from his home, exuberant despite having stepped off a plane following a five-week DJ tour of Europe just hours earlier.

“Like right now, I’m listening to a lot of folkloric type stuff — a lot of West African music called cicco, a lot of Gypsy music. I’m a big fan of Lizst, the classical composer — and all of that is pretty toned down compared to what I usually listen to. I’m all over the map and just a sucker for anything that creates some sort of vibrancy.”

It’s little wonder that Williams is curious about musics of the world, given that he was born in Derbyshire, England, lived in Parkdale from age 14 through 21, spent two years studying at Clarendon College in Jamaica and followed that with a stint in West Africa “documenting the griots and the Byfal Tribe” — all before settling into his artist-friendly Mile End digs in Montreal.

Williams has played professional basketball, hosted radio shows regularly since starting on Toronto’s CKLN in the mid-‘80s and DJed in clubs since the early ‘90s. He balances all of these interests — and more — with teaching math, science and other subjects to kids in grades seven through 11 as well as to adults in continuing education studies at McGill.

He takes an educational though not academic approach to sharing music, understanding that it’s intrinsically connected to culture, community and specific points in history. One minute we’re talking Sly & The Family Stone, Sweet and Stevie Wonder, the next Williams is riffing on jazz greats including Coltrane, Miles, Monk and Mingus. Whether programming for radio or for a night out, Williams digs themes.

“When I play my sets, there’s usually a build-up,” he explains. “Like when I guest-DJ at Turning Point, I’ll start off with something that will take people way, way back and then I’ll build it up to the ’60s or something. There’s always a story behind what I do.”

This sense of history is evident throughout Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective, a compilation Williams put together for Toronto/Montreal indie label Public Transit. Featuring knockout pieces from different countries and eras, the CD is also a fundraiser for Montreal’s Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre in Little Burgundy. Surprisingly, it is also the first compilation to feature Andy Williams’ name.

“It’s about time, I know, but now I’m pretty much on a roll,” he chuckles.

He’s not kidding. Williams is currently at work on a collection of music by jazz composer and pianist Omar Sosa — complete with a CD featuring remixes by DJ Spinna, Karl Injex, Basephunk, Doctor L and others — and will also compile a triple-CD anthology of jazz and blues released since 1953 on Chicago’s Delmark label.

Additionally, Williams has recently partnered with film producers Daniela Pinna (Gala Films) and Mark Morgenstern (Ewola Films) to share footage he has of avant-garde jazz artists including the AACM (the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Chicago).
“I’ve been archiving jazz footage and interviewing jazz musicians for the last 14 years,” explains Williams. “There’s a clip up at Ductape.com and I’ll sometimes show stuff at house parties, but I’m finally going to put stuff out there now that I’ve got producers on the project.”

In the meantime, Williams is now in the midst of a series of Ontario club DJ dates with friend Scott C. The two have played together since ’94 when Scott C. — himself a hip-hop aficionado, producer and long-time columnist for the Montreal Mirror — invited Williams to join the four-man Brass Knuckles DJ crew.

Following five successful years, Williams and Scott C. branched out in August of 2002 to create The Goods, a monthly session where they play several decades’ worth of jazz, funk, soul, cumbia, hip-hop, flamenco, house and much more.

“You can catch a crowd ranging from 18 to 50,” Williams enthuses. “We have people putting on their ballerina slippers or tap-dancing shoes, serious breakers, people from the La La La [Human Steps] dance troupe. It’s a huge fanbase of music lovers from all over who come out and dance. It’s one of these magical nights, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow any time soon.”