Search - Jessica Williams :: All Alone

Jessica Williams
All Alone
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. As Time Goes By
2. In A Sentimental Mood
3. Warm Valley
4. All Alone
5. They Say It's Wonderful
6. Don't Explain
7. Toshiko
8. The Sheikh
9. Bill's Beauty
10. The Quilt
11. Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk
12. Too Young To Go Steady

CD Details

All Artists: Jessica Williams
Title: All Alone
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Max Jazz Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2003
Re-Release Date: 3/11/2003
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Modern Postbebop, Bebop, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 610614020624

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Northern California pianist Jessica Williams released several low-profile but well-regarded records in the '80s and '90s, but thanks to 2002's This Side Up, her profile has expanded beyond an appreciative few (which included Dave Brubeck). Here, Williams follows that trio date with All Alone, a solo effort that is an absorbing look at this amazing post-bop pianist. There is an elegant moodiness throughout that is punctuated by classical flourishes and bluesy trimmings, with gems like "As Time Goes By" (from the movie Casablanca), Irving Berlin's "All Alone," and Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" conveying a bluish romanticism that can only come from someone who has been around the block. Williams drops a string of four originals into the middle of the 12-song program, and they are well thought out and expertly rendered. While "The Sheikh" gets downright funky, Williams sounds best when she plays the romantic on tunes such as the original "Bill's Beauty" and the standards. --Tad Hendrickson

CD Reviews

One of the Greats

Linda L. Underhill | Wellsville, NY United States | 01/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prepare to be dazzled by an artist at the height of her powers. Jessica Williams brings to the keyboard a prodigious technique, an unerring sense of rhythm, inventive phrasing, and a knowledge of musical history--in short, everything required to master the art of improvisation. On "All Alone" she explores a world of different moods, from playful to pensive, as she interprets tunes like "In a Sentimental Mood," "As Time Goes By," and "Don't Explain." Then she cooks on her own compositions, "The Sheikh," and "The Quilt." Williams also has an uncanny way of evoking her musical mentors in original compositions like "Bill's Beauty" for Bill Evans, and "Toshiko" for Toshiko Akiyoshi. She even recalls the beloved John Coltrane in "They Say It's Wonderful" and "Too Young to Go Steady," songs he also recorded to which she adds new dimensions. If you like piano jazz, you will love this recording. Jessica Williams proves she is All Alone in a class by herself--one of the great artists of the keyboard."