Jessica Williams
Encyclopedia
Jessica Jennifer Williams (born March 17, 1948) is an American
pianist
and composer
who has deep roots in jazz
. She has been called "one of the top jazz pianists of today."
, Maryland
. She began her music career young, taking piano lessons at the age of four and began classical training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music when she was seven. She moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
during her teens and began playing with the quintet of Philly Joe Jones
, the former Miles Davis
drum
mer.
In 1977, she moved to San Francisco, California
, where she played in various house bands, such as for Eddie Harris
, Dexter Gordon
, Tony Williams, and Stan Getz
. She also became the house pianist for Keystone Korner. She recorded for Candid
, Fantasy
, Timeless
, Concord
, Jazz Focus, Hep
, and MaxJazz record labels. She began her own label
in 1997, called Red and Blue Recordings, on which to release her own original material. She also owns her own publishing company, JJW Music, and runs her own Internet CD mail-order business, jessicawilliams.com.
She is a three-time Grammy Award
Nominee and holds a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim
Foundation for composition.
She appeared at the 2004 and 2006 "Mary Lou Williams
Women in Jazz Festivals" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington, D.C.
She currently resides in Washington.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
who has deep roots in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. She has been called "one of the top jazz pianists of today."
History
Williams was born in BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. She began her music career young, taking piano lessons at the age of four and began classical training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music when she was seven. She moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
during her teens and began playing with the quintet of Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...
, the former Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
mer.
In 1977, she moved to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, where she played in various house bands, such as for Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ...
, Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, Tony Williams, and Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
. She also became the house pianist for Keystone Korner. She recorded for Candid
Candid Records
Candid Records was founded as a subsidiary of Archie Bleyer's Cadence label in New York City in 1960. The jazz writer and civil rights activist, Nat Hentoff, worked as the label's A&R director, aiming to create a representative catalog of the jazz of the day...
, Fantasy
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
, Timeless
Timeless Records
Timeless Records is a jazz record label from The Netherlands.Timeless was founded in Wageningen in 1975 by Wim Wigt. It has specialized in bebop, though it also did a subseries of important releases of Dixieland and swing recordings. As of ca...
, Concord
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
, Jazz Focus, Hep
Hep Records
Hep Records is a Scottish record label specializing in both new and reissued jazz music. The label was founded in 1974 by Alastair Robertson in Edinburgh.-Past and present artists:*Don Lanphere*Jessica Williams*Jim Mullen*Tommy Smith*Michael Hashim...
, and MaxJazz record labels. She began her own label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in 1997, called Red and Blue Recordings, on which to release her own original material. She also owns her own publishing company, JJW Music, and runs her own Internet CD mail-order business, jessicawilliams.com.
She is a three-time Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
Nominee and holds a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim
Guggenheim
Guggenheim may refer to:* Benjamin Guggenheim* Charles Guggenheim* Davis Guggenheim* Guggenheim Building* Guggenheim family* Guggenheim Fellowship* Guggenheim Museum * Harry Frank Guggenheim* John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation...
Foundation for composition.
She appeared at the 2004 and 2006 "Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
Women in Jazz Festivals" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
She currently resides in Washington.
Recognition
- Grammy nominations:
- Nothin' But the Truth — 1986
- Live At Yoshi's, Vol. 1 — 2004
- National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grantsGrant (money)Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
— 1984, 1988 - Rockefeller Grant (composing) — 1989
- Alice B. ToklasAlice B. ToklasAlice B. Toklas was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century.-Early life, relationship with Gertrude Stein:...
Grant for Women Composers — 1992 - John Simon GuggenheimGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
Memorial Foundation Fellowship — 1995 - Presented the keys to the city of Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. - Four grants from the Sacramento Arts Commission.
- Presented the Keys to the City of San Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
. - Artist of the Year in Santa Cruz CountySanta Cruz County, CaliforniaSanta Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
— 2002 - Jazz Record of the Year for two consecutive years in the Jazz Journal International Reader's Poll.
- Billboard Magazine charting:
- This Side Up — Top Jazz Albums, peak #24, 2002
Selected discography
- 1976 Portal of Antrim — Adelphi
- 1978 Portraits — Adelphi
- 1979 Orgonomic Music — Clean Cuts
- 1980 Rivers of Memory — Clean Cuts
- 1982 Update (Jessica Williams album) — Clean Cuts
- 1986 Nothin' But the Truth — BlackHawk
- 1990 And Then, There's This — Timeless
- 1992 Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 21 — Concord Jazz
- 1993 Next Step — Hep
- 1993 Arrival — Jazz Focus
- 1994 Momentum — Jazz Focus
- 1994 Song That I Heard — HEP
- 1994 In the Pocket — Hep
- 1994 EncountersEncounters (album)Encounters is an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron and bassist David Friesen recorded in 1984 and released by the Muse label.-Reception:...
— Jazz Focus - 1995 Inventions — Jazz Focus
- 1995 Joy — Jazz Focus
- 1995 Intuition — Jazz Focus
- 1996 Gratitude — Candid
- 1996 Jessica's Blues — Jazz Focus
- 1996 Victoria Concert — Jazz Focus
- 1997 Higher Standards — Candid
- 1998 Encounters, Vol. 2 — Jazz Focus
- 1998 Joyful Sorrow: A Solo Tribute to Bill Evans — BlackHawk
- 1999 In the Key of Monk — Jazz Focus
- 1999 Ain't Misbehavin' — Candid
- 2000 Jazz in the Afternoon — Candid
- 2000 Blue Fire — Jazz Focus
- 2001 I Let a Song Go out of My HeartI Let a Song Go Out of My HeartI Let a Song Go Out of My Heart is a 1938 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics added by Irving Mills, Henry Nemo and John Redmond. The song became a number one hit for Ellington in 1938, and vocal versions by Benny Goodman and Mildred Bailey soon followed.Dinah Washington recorded the song...
— Hep - 2001 Some Ballads, Some Blues — Jazz Focus
- 2002 This Side Up — MAXJAZZ
- 2003 All Alone — MAXJAZZ
- 2004 Live At Yoshi's, Vol. 1 — MAXJAZZ
- 2004 The Real Deal (Jessica Williams album) — Hep Jazz
- 2005 Live at Yoshi's, Vol. 2 — MAXJAZZ
- 2006 Billy's Theme: A Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor — Origin Arts
- 2008 Songs for a New Century — Origin Arts
- 2009 The Art of the Piano — Origin Arts
- 2010 Touch — Origin Arts
- 2011 Freedom Trane — Origin Arts