Help Mars Williams Beat Cancer

Mars Williams was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and underwent treatment in January – and while he’s responding well to treatment – he could use some financial assistance as he recovers since he is currently unable to work.

There’s a GoFundMe setup to help assist with his financial situation – so if you have a few bucks to spare, please consider sending it his way:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/marswilliams

If you’re unfamiliar with Mars Williams, he is probably best known as the saxophonist for the band The Psychedelic Furs – but he is an established and well-regarded saxophonist in the Chicago area. In addition to The Psychedelic Furs – he performs with Liquid Soul and the NRG Ensemble – and even released a couple of albums with the recently departed Harrison Bankhead.

If you’ve listened to The Return of CoolMojo – especially over the holidays – you’ll know Mars Williams from the amazing Albert Ayler inspired Christmas albums that I’ve featured and that he’s released – five volumes thus far – over the years. These are great albums.

Side note – I saw The Psychedelic Furs as they passed through the Huntington area last year – and it was an amazing concert, with Mars Williams on saxophone being one of the highlights of the show. Some photos from that show:

I went with some friends on kind of a whim with virtually no expectations – but it was a terrific concert. Full disclosure – I didn’t realize he still performed with the band until I saw him onstage, so it was all a pleasant surprise.

Anyway – musicians don’t have a lot of support these days, and Mars Williams is one that should be around for a while if we can do anything about it – so please consider donating to the GoFundMe.

Quick update – there’s actually video from the show I attended that someone was “kind” enough to upload to YouTube – with Mars Williams featured heavily. Incidentally, the current drummer for the band – Zack Alford – was the drummer for David Bowie on a few of Bowie’s later albums and on three of Bowie’s concert tours in the late-1990s (as well as Bowie’s appearance on SNL in 1997). Anyway – please enjoy: