Grey Ghost Pianist Roosevelt T. Williams, better known as "Grey Ghost," entertained Central Texas audiences from the 1920s through the 1990s with his jazz-tinged barrelhouse blues. Once called the "Thelonious Monk of Blues," Williams was born Dec. 7, 1903, in Bastrop. Armed with basic musical training as a teen, he used his good ear to absorb African-American, Anglo, Mexican, and Eastern European styles pouring out of area dances and roadhouses. Williams often traveled to and from gigs by slipping onto empty boxcars, which earned him the Grey Ghost appellation.