William A. Thompson IV (WATIV) was born to two teachers in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Growing up in rural Mississippi Will was introduced to the arts at a very early age. He was initially recognized as an outstanding student of the visual arts. It wasn't until years later that he became aware of the musical legacy of his family as well as his own. The Kramer family on his mother's side was full of jazz musicians. Most notably, George Kramer was a traditional New Orleans bandleader during the nineteen forties.

During high school he somewhat reluctantly moved to the small Cajun town of Opelousas, Lousiana. Armed with what classical piano lessons Will received as a child in Mississippi, He began to more formally address the music he had played by ear under the tutelage of resident pianist, composer, and Cajun musician, David Egan. This music, especially the music of New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair, eventually led Will back to his heritage; Jazz.

It was this interest that attracted Will to study jazz at the University Of New Orleans, whose jazz department was headed by the renowned Ellis Marsalis. However due to lack of funding, Will enlisted in the Louisiana National Guard where he became a Counter Intelligence Agent. For the next four years he was able to study music in peace while fulfilling his army obligation one weekend a month. While in school Will played piano at any occasion possible.

Under the instruction of Doug Bickel, Will was beginning to make some headway in his musical career securing wel-paying gigs, meanwhile, he and his colleagues explored more abstract styles. The most notable music Will produced at this time was with a group known as the III.IV.I. Kolective. The group's continual goal was to produce new and innovative jazz while remaining true to the traditional piano trio format. Along with Milton Villarrubia on drums, and Matthew Golombisky on bass, Will explored many compositional and improvisational avenues. As a group we believed that the idea that jazz has to swing to be jazz was preposterous. Together this group tried to bring together rhythmic and harmonic elements of pop music, electronica, as well as classical music.

However, at the time in New Orleans this type of innovation received very little attention. It’s hard to be modern in the very town where jazz was born. Although this heritage is invaluable, it tends to bring down innovation with it's tradition. An audience of New Orleans tourists wants to hear songs like "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans" and "Bye Bye Blackbird". While somewhat frustrated by audiences, the members of the III.IV.I. Kolective along with David Hyman, Quin Kerchner, Allen Dejan Jr., Mark Anderson, and Omar Ramirez continued to play more traditional jazz at such local venues as: the Funky Butt, Cafe Brazil, Dose Jeffes, and the Spotted Catt. There are acts in town today who are trying to push the envelope like: Rob Wagner's trio, The Naked Orchestra, Red Shift, Triple Delight, Brian Seeger, and Grilly Biggs.

While at the University of New Orleans he had the pleasure of studying with such greats as Edward Petersen, Doug Bickel, Steven Masakowsky, Victor Atkins, Hank Mackie, Matt Lemmler, Harold Baptist, Jeff Albert, and Brian Seeger. But more recently Will took an active interest in composition. With this inspiration he never noticed what was about to happen to the world as well as his life.

As an introverted musician, Will really had not paid attention to global politics. That is until his National Guard unit was activated on April 27th 2004. Instead of graduating from college and fulfilling his six-year contract in the guard he was sent to Iraq. Due to a phenomenon known as "Stop Loss" the military is able to keep soldiers in the military despite their fulfillment of legal obligation.

Upon deployment, Will quickly purchased a Powerbook G4 and all necessary music production software. With MIDI, Samples and imagination, he has begun, and continues to compose music reflecting his experiences in this unfortunate war.

ON COMPOSITION:

Improvisation is composition. Simply stated, composition is improvisation refined and edited. Much like an author or painter the artist has the opportunity to tinker with his craft. It is my belief that true content must come from some place that can’t be understood.