Born May 19, 1947 in Aberdeen, Scotland died on October 30, 2009 in Victoria, BC. He is survived by his wife, Mechthild “Maggie” Williamson; sisters, Anet Williamson of Victoria, BC, and Eileen Harvey (Bill) of Halifax, NS; nieces, Nicole, Renee, Rachelle and Juliet of Halifax NS; brother, Charlie Williamson (Ava) of Mission, BC; mother-in-law, Helga Kroscky of Germany; and sister-in-law, Annette Henrichs (Kasper) of Germany.
Lou was an extremely honourable man, a multi-talented percussionist, specializing on vibes and drums. He was a mentor to many and will be greatly missed by all.
In Lou’s honour, a musical tribute to celebrate his life will be held in the new year. To honour Lou’s memory, donations may be made to the “Lou Williamson Scholarship Fund” for young drummers, AFM Local 247 Musician’s Association of Victoria and the Islands, 732 Princess Ave., Suite 202, Victoria, BC V8T 1K6.
46 Responses
Thank you for all your comments about my brother Lou, I miss him too . I love you all for him. I am sad today to say that my brothers wife Maggie has passed on the 27th of Dec 2013.
I’m saddened to hear of Lou’s passing. I wish only to express my gratitude for the four years (1996-2000) I spent listening to Lou and Tom and Mike at Herman’s while I attended university in the city. I’d never heard jazz live before, and have never since heard a better or more joyful drummer than Lou. He played in such a way that he seemed to continually surprise himself. It’s touching for me and inspiring to read how he affected so many people.
I first met Mr. Williamson while working at Long & McQuade. My 6 years working in the drum department gave me the good fortune to see Mr. Williamson on a regular basis. He always had time to impart a little “drum wisdom”, and he even gave me a few rare pieces of jazz memorabilia from his collection. Over the years, I had the chance to see him perform often – and was always inspired by his finesse and passion behind the kit.
Thanks Lou for your kindness and inspiration. You are greatly missed.
Rob Gretsinger
I have only met ‘Lou’ on a couple instances at the union office. Coming from Montreal, he helped me find my path as a drummer in Victoria. I am very appreciative of the talks we had and direction he had given me. He was always very positive and helpful. A true ‘Mentsch’… as said in Yiddish. He will be missed.
Jeff Tobin
I was fortunate to study with Lou back in the 80’s in Montreal. He was a great teacher, but I didn’t know the true depth of his talent until he invited me to a gig he had at the Delta Hotel with Oliver Jones. I had never seen anyone play with such musicality, technique and taste. I still think of Lou every single time I sit down to play, and I probably always will.
My condolences to his family & friends.
I first met Lou 6 years ago when I began taking drum lessons from him. He continued to push me to the max of my capabilities and was always patient kind and always encouraging. His skills as a drummer were absolutly astounding, and I was extremely lucky to take lessons from him when I was young and later at Brentwood College. The world has truly lost one of its finest musicians.
My deapest condolences to Louis’ family
We all miss you Louis
-Conor Elmes
I first met Louis in the late 50’s when we both lived in the Maritime Apartments (for married military personnel) in Dartmouth, NS where he quickly became part of the gang. I moved to Soest Germany in ’61 and Louis turned-up like a bad penny in ’62 where we were both in the same class (grade 10). Actually, Louis only attened class for the first half of the year…he had some sort of nervous condition and for the second half of the year he only showed up at school to write the quarterly exams where he consistantly pulled off a 85-90% average. The rest of us goofs could never figure out how he did that:)
Louis had the use of the family storage room in the basement of the PMQ (Permanent Married Quarters) in Soest and he had his drum kit set-up down there so while the rest of us were being bored to death in school, Louis was home drumming away like Gene Krupa. Needless to say, me and Floyd MacLean cut many,many classes and went up to Louis’ and hung around (just like real jazz guys). Glad my old man never found out about that!!
One day in class, the words ‘Hippo Dung” sprang into my idle brain and being a 14 year old goof, I thought that was just hilarious, laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face. When I finally could get those words out and told Louis, he just broke up too. Being Louis, he took it one step further and drew sketch of an ice cream cone with the letters HPD on the side of the cone. We then proceded to draw this ‘logo’ all over the school…teachers would open the blackboard and there was the HPD logo, students would open their books and there was the logo, mysteriously etched into the dust on the school buses would be the HPD logo. So if anyone from Soest Senoir High reads this, now you know the story on the HPD cone…it was all Louis’ Williamson’s fault:)
So from Eric Jordan (Dartmouth) and myself….thanks for the memories, Louis.
We’re sure that Lou is getting in some major drumming licks up there with all the greats!!!
We’ll sure miss him here and are sending out much love & light to his family.
Bruce & Di
Today I opened my binder with a real sence of loss as I gaze upon pages and pages of hand written drum notation given to me by Lou 30 years ago.The work he put into his teaching, and the way he would make it seem as if he did it all just for me was something so remarkable that to this day I am still inspired, motivated,and deeply in love with the music in my life. For this I am eternally Gratefull. His legacy has no boundries because now my son is learning about Music through those same hand written charts that Lou gave to me so many years ago. To Lou’s family and friends. Please accept my condolances on what must be a stinging loss ….And know this, He will not be forgotton
I haven’t seen Lou for 25 years, but was a student of his for all of my teen years. He attended my 2nd gig I played at a local high school(Mtl.) with our lil rock band, and I was very fortunate to watch and listen to him perform in different bands on a few occasions… he always introduced me as a fellow drummer.
I always thought I’d meet up with him again, but will have to enjoy the memories,wealth of instruction, and overall common sense and guidance as a great person.
As I sit here reading and typing, i am extremely sad and reflective, but it is truly great to read about so many people he has touched in his ever positive manner…truly a great person and musician.
My condolences to Maggie, his family,friends,and all who had the unique benefit of hearing and knowing him.