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Jessica Williams: Musical Truths
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Jessica Williams begins a free-wheeling and fascinating conversation with a fan by thanking him for the kind words he has spoken about her music. Then she adds: “But you don't always have to say kind words, you know, as long as you always say the truth." It's advice that is very much in character with the artist who has, in the past few years, been on a quest for musical truths, as well as for peace and ...
read moreJessica Williams: Touch
by Dan McClenaghan
Jessica WilliamsTouchOrigin Records2010 Pianist Jessica Williams continues to evolve, and what a pure music lover's joy it is to hear an artist entering her sixth decade on a roll, growing and expanding her vision. Classically trained at the Peabody Conservatory, jazz-trained in the bands of Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Stan Getz and others, Williams furthered her education with her own--more than seventy--albums/CDs as a leader.Always a high level ...
read moreJessica Williams: The Art of the Piano
by Jack Bowers
Jessica Williams has been playing piano since she was four years old, and realized early on that she wanted to continue doing so for the rest of her life. Her choice is our reward. The Art of the Piano, a solo piano set, was recorded in May 2009 at the Triple Door in Seattle, WA. The first two numbers, “Triple Door Blues" and “Esperanza," are followed by enthusiastic response, after which the audience inexplicably disappears, returning at the end of ...
read moreJessica Williams: Art of the Piano
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Jessica Williams' third Origin Records CD, The Art of the Piano, brings to mind Brad Mehldau's Art of the Trio series that ran through five discs. In Mehldau's case the recordings were, of course, with his trio, featuring bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy (later, Jeff Ballard). Williams' three sets on Origin are all solo efforts, and they are all marvelous explorations of the pianist's singular artistry.Williams, who sat in with Philly Joe Jones' group back ...
read moreJessica Williams
by Thomas Conrad
It is hard to think of a jazz musician who has gone her own way more resolutely than pianist Jessica Williams. She works only on her own solo and trio projects, never as a sideperson. She engineers her own albums for her own label, Red and Blue, and sells them on her own website, which she designs and maintains herself. She plays only in the venues she chooses (and she almost never chooses clubs). Even her place of residence is ...
read moreJessica Williams: Deep Monk
by Dan McClenaghan
Do we really need another tribute to Thelonious Sphere Monk? Everybody who is anybody in the jazz game has put a Monk song on an album. Some have been so bold as to dedicate an entire album to the odd and angular songs full of playful dissonance and unexpected angles.Not easy tunes to play, they say. But the jazz family patriarch, Ellis Marsalis, does a masterful job of it on An Open Letter to Thelonious (ELM Music, 2008), ...
read moreJessica Williams: Blood Music
by Dan McClenaghan
This electronically rendered music thing got its start with Wendy (then Walter) Carlos back in 1968, with the Grammy-winning Switched-On Bach (CBS Records). Carlos played the then-new Moog Synthesizer, giving a serous electric glow to composition by Johann Sebastian Bach.Now Jessica Williams--one of the finest acoustic jazz pianists alive--"switches on" for Blood Music.“NOT JAZZ," it says of the CD on Williams' website. The often dense, electrically orchestral and frequently groove-oriented sound gets tagged “creative, Indie, 21st ...
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