Live at Yoshi's 1

Jessica Williams | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Max Jazz Records
• ASIN: B0002IQCCA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,244 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Los Angeles Times

"She’s a cutting edge player who is carving a unique road through some fascinating jazz territory."

Product Description

Williams opens the CD with an entrancing solo on "I’m Confessin’ That I Love You." She sways gently on "Say It Over and Over Again" by Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh and then picks up the pace on "You Say You Care" by Jules Styne and Leo Robin. Both Williams and Drummond pluck their instrument’s strings to create a slinky, funk effect on Williams’ original, "Tutu’s Promise." Then Williams draws out the emotion of Billy Cobham’s "Heather" beautifully before reconstructing the standard, "Alone Together." Her thoughtful, expressive "Poem in G Minor" follows. On "I Want To Talk About You" by Billy Eckstine and Anne-Rachel, Williams makes the listener feel like the song is being sung to him. Williams closes with "Mysterioso" by one of her favorite composers and strongest influences, Thelonious Monk.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanted Evening, July 29, 2005

By 

Linda L. Underhill (Wellsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at Yoshi's 1 (Audio CD)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gem, September 7, 2004

By 

Blue Rondo a la Turk (California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Yoshi's 1 (Audio CD)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Music By an Underrated Musician, June 18, 2007

By 

Buddy Bolden (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Yoshi's 1 (Audio CD)

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.