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Jessica Williams

Jessica Williams is a well-known and highly respected American pianist and composer who has deep roots in the Jazz Tradition.

About Me

DAVE BRUBECK calls her “One of the greatest jazz pianists I have ever heard...”

McCOY TYNER says “Jessica is a beautiful player...”

and ROLLING STONE Magazine calls her “A vibrant force on the contemporary music scene.”

This two-time Grammy Nominee was classically trained at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. In her mid-twenties she worked with the great Philly Joe Jones, drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet. She also played in the bands of Eddie Harris, Tony Williams, Stan Getz, Big Nick Nicholaus, Airto and Flora Purim, Charlie Rouse, John Abercrombie, Leroy Vinnegar, and others.

She has released over 65 albums and written over 300 compositions. She has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; a Rockefeller Grant for composing; the Alice B. Toklas Grant for Women Composers, and the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

She was presented the Keys to the City of Sacramento, receiving four grants from the Sacramento Arts Commission, and the Keys to the City of San Mateo. She was chosen Artist of the Year in Santa Cruz County, for her free musical service to the elderly, and for donating support to the Women's Shelter of Watsonville.

During the last four decades, Jessica has recorded for Adelphi, Clean Cuts, Jazz Focus, Candid, Concord, Landmark-Fantasy, Timeless, Maxjazz, and Origin Arts. Now, she owns her own publishing company, JJW Music, owns her own CD company called Red and Blue Recordings, and runs her own successful Internet business, jessicawilliams.com.

She's been a guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. She's written scores for PBS and HBO and has received more than twenty ASCAP Special Awards for her prolific musical output. She has played everywhere from The Kennedy Center to the Opera House in Tokyo.