There’s something about the presence of a vocalist that seeps inside of Buster Williams’ soul and reverberates through his bass. Case in point, his cover of Shirley Horn’s signature song, “Here’s to Life,” on his latest effort, Unalome [Smoke Sessions Records]. With vocalist Jean Baylor purring poignantly, Williams’ support lines are equal parts anchor and countermelody, sometimes a response to Baylor’s call, other times setting up her next vocal phrase. When he arrives at his solo, his inner crooner emerges with a memorable theme that he delivers and develops using vibrato, varied note durations, phrases that stretch the beat before resolving rhythmically, and expressive slides in and out of notes. Joining Baylor—who appears on seven of Unalome’s eight tracks—are longtime Buster bandmates George Colligan on piano and Lenny White on drums, plus frequent collaborators vibraphonist Stefon Harris and saxophonist Bruce Williams (no relation). Together they remain steeped in the tradition Williams brings—including his noted stints with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, McCoy Tyner, and Ron Carter, as well as vocal giants Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, and Shirley Horn—while also embracing the Buddhist-practicing Williams’ quest to keep moving forward. The spry, quick-witted son of Camden, New Jersey, who remains based in the area, was more than happy to discuss his new recording.Did you have a concept for the record, and how does it relate to the title?There wasn’t a concept per se, but I knew I wanted vocals on the record, and I always like the addition of Stefon and Bruce joining my long-standing rhythm section with Lenny and George. As for Unalome [Oo-na-loom], I was having trouble coming up with a title and my daughter introduced the word to me, and it struck a chord. I like the idea of what it stands for. It’s a lotus flower-topped Hindu symbol that represents individual transcendence and the path to enlightenment, which aligns with my Buddhist beliefs that your life should be a succession of steps, and that those steps should be along an ascending path.The opener, “Stairways,” has a beautiful melody delivered by Jean Baylor’s wordless vocals. How did that did that come to you?It’s something that came into my head and I laid my hands down on the piano and that’s how I brought it to life. Mostly, I compose on piano, but I might get an idea from something I play on the bass, or an idea will pop into my mind and I’ll flesh it out on piano, like I did here. As for the wordless vocal, I’ve always enjoyed that in jazz but you need a special voice. Jean has that kind of special voice where she becomes another instrument.When you bring in your music to record, how much of it is arranged and how much is it letting your band develop their parts?I’ll only notate as little as I need to describe to them what I’m looking for, and then I trust them to come up with their parts