Search - Jessica Williams :: Live at Yoshi's 1

Enchanted Evening

Linda L. Underhill | Wellsville, NY United States | 07/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was not in the audience on the night this recording was made at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, but I wish I had been, as it must have been one enchanted evening. Williams is at her best with Ray Drummond and Victor Lewis; the three of them play as one. Williams is the shining star, playing with a purity rarely heard on such live recordings. She has an amazing gift, and in front of a live audience she plays the piano as if she is offering the music rather than showing it off as so many performers do. The sound quality and engineering is superior compared to most live recordings, with no obstrusive background noise, just the enthusiastic applause at the end of each cut from an audience who knew they were hearing something special.



As with all of Williams' recordings, you will find something new here each time you listen, and you will go to places you never imagined music could take you."

Another gem

Blue Rondo a la Turk | California USA | 09/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The second recording for Jessica Williams with the

amazing team of Ray Drummond and Victor Lewis for MazJazz,

this one live in Oakland, CA. The interplay between these

three is tightly knit and the emotions that she puts into

her compositions and performance of them just are so equally

shared by the rest of the band. Listen to "Poem in G Minor",

the way she works on a theme or styling, then expands on it,

then comes back to it, so beautifully. Truly one of the

modern masters of jazz piano."

Great Music By an Underrated Musician

Buddy Bolden | USA | 06/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jessica Williams is a very gifted pianist who combines great technical proficiency with profound musicality. By turns dramatic, lyrical, and meditative, her playing contains echoes of such predecessors as Waller, Garner, Garland, Monk, and Evans (to name just a few), yet her sound is distinctively her own and decidedly fresh and modern. As an improviser she is boundlessly creative and never seems less than fully engaged and "in the moment"; not only does she seem to be able to play anything that occurs to her, but what occurs to her is always interesting and often arrestingly beautiful. The two volumes of "Live at Yoshi's" present her at her best, and in the company of two skillful collaborators whose style complements hers quite effectively. The song selection strikes a nice balance, with a good mix of standards, works by other jazz musicians, and Williams's own lovely and inventive compositions. The sound is also exceptionally good; while the piano is perhaps a shade brighter than would be ideal, the recording captures the subtleties of the performances with impressive clarity and detail. Either volume would be a fine introduction to a musician who deserves to be much better known than she is."