Search - Jessica Williams :: Songs for a New Century

Jessica Williams
Songs for a New Century
Genres: Jazz, Pop

Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
1. Empathy [7:20]
2. Toshiko [5:43]
3. Fantasia [7:04]
4. Song for a Baby [4:15]
5. Blessing in Disguise [7:03]
6. Lament [6:33]
7. Dear Oscar [6:10]
8. Spoken Softly [9:06]
9. If Only [7:47]

CD Details

All Artists: Jessica Williams
Title: Songs for a New Century
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Origin Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2008
Re-Release Date: 4/22/2008
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 805558250729

Synopsis

Product Description

Jessica Williams' newest album more than lives up to its proud title with 8 originals by Jessica Williams and one seldom-heard chestnut by Sonny Rollins. The music is as new as the 21st Century and quite unlike anything Ms. Williams has committed to CD before: in a program that spans all of the emotions: from longing, sadness, wonder, and optimism, to melting love, there are times when one may wonder if it's 'just a piano' they're hearing. On Toshiko, she manages to coax the sounds of a Koto or a Shamisen out of the instrument, all without any overdubs. The title tune, First Wish, immediately fills you with the spirit of promise and positive change. Her heart-breaking Fantasia is a strong reminder of her extensive conservatory training and extraordinary touch, often compared to Bill Evans (and, more recently, to Glenn Gould) by JazzTimes critic Doug Ramsey. Still firmly rooted in her nearly 50 year love-affair with jazz, she offers her deeply-felt tribute to the memory of the great pianist Oscar Peterson, and rounds out the mesmerizing program with her original compositions containing soaring lines and rapid-fire sheets-of-sound that were inspired by the ground-breaking work of one of her strongest and earliest influences, saxophone giant John Coltrane.

CD Reviews

Taking It to a New Level

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 05/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the first notes, you know that this is a Jessica Williams album, so unique is her style and approach to the piano. Yet the overall feeling of the album seems different, a more profound exploration than customary, as indicative by the very first track, Empathy, and later in Fantasia. Except for one track, all pieces are her own compositions. Here, then, is another sign of inspiration. The moods are more varied than usual, too, from seriousness to sweetness to funky fun to nostalgia. The composition Dear Oscar is outstanding in its capturing the essence of that master. Her new version of Toshiko, a compositon already introduced in her previous solo album, All Alone, was the only piece that bothered me. I wrote to Williams about it, how it seemed too contrived, affected in its koto mimicry. She was most proud of it, however; and I do applaud her applying the mechanics of the piano to achieve innovative sounds. Aside from this, the album is rich in musicianship. The entire keyboard from its most bass notes to the upper reaches provide high contrast, reminding us that the piano can be an orchestra. Jessica Williams continues to dazzle us with her innovation, her continual study of music as spiritual vehicle. As her last track, If Only, ends, there is a glow of satisfaction of an hour well spent. With Jessica Williams, the body may not dance but the heart soars."