Updated March 12, 2010* -
As Santayana once reportedly announced, "How will I know what I think
unless I talk about it?" Makes sense, I suppose. At least it partially
explains why he talked so much. So this "news" page serves as a posting
board for events, complaints, ambitions and stuff... and leads inexorably
and inevitably to my voluminous writings section,
Currents | Jessica Williams downloads on iTunes
(lots and lots!) and you'll of course need the iTunes Player. But we'd rather you buy the CDs here. That way, I actually get paid for my music. Novel idea!
And number one on the list, too...
Dan McClenaghan's Top Ten CDs for 2009. View the article here. It's my newest release on Origin Arts - The Art of the Piano - now on sale here - please buy it from me if you care about the artist getting paid. If not, iTunes and all of the on-line stores will have it, too. I'm very, very happy with this one. So far, the reviews are in agreement... JazzTimes just weighed in favorably.
Jessica Williams at the Steinway Performance Space
Steinway Performance Space at Sherman Clay Pianos, March 6, 2010, Saturday at 7pm, all ages welcome, Jessica Williams, Solo Piano Concert, with a guest appearance by the famous pianist William Chapman Nyaho, artist reception following performance. Sherman Clay Pianos, 1624 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101 - call 206 622 7580 for reservations! Already filling up.
Also, here's a new way to search for a piano, with online videos of how to get the best piano for your dollar, and where to find the best pianos in the world. Ben Klinger, pianist and manager of Sherman and Clay Steinway store, gives a fascinating talk here in the vid below, and you can find many other videos to walk you through the process at the Steinway/Sherman Clay link here
The Circle
My playing is a dance singing, a magical dance creating an aural circle in the air. People join hands in trust and peace. The circle becomes complete when the Elders, the women, the children, the men, all have a voice in the song and a place in the dance. The earth vibrates under our dancing feet. The sky shimmers with our sacred song. If we were to love. What would it be like if we were to love...
Roses and beautiful things
Here's a little gallery of a few pictures I took of roses and other sources of beauty, right in my back yard (gallery buttons are in the lower right-hand corner). Soon there'll be a garden, with tomatoes and onions and peppers and squash and herbs of every type. I love being around all this beauty. It's a way of ritual, a way to peace for me, a way of being in a land of confusion and loss. I am a lucky woman, a early elder, an admirer of the fantastic beauty that our Mother supplies us, every day. It brings me joy and hope and love, all things that everyone should have always, everywhere. PLUS: New addition to my blog, my article about The Eleventh Hour, inspired by the wise words of a Hopi elder of the Hopi Indian Nation, Oraibi, Arizona. And a short essay about Aspiring to Oneness
House Concerts
I have a new web site: http://web.me.com/jessicajwilliams/house_concerts/Welcome.html. The site you're at, jessicawilliams.com, will always remain my own small cybercity, but the new site is meant to promote and secure house concerts and alternative venues, so that I can play where I'm most comfortable, effective, and creative. House concerts seem to be the wave of the future for me, and I love doing them! Some pictures here
The Great Gould, again
I realize I'm smitten by Glenn Gould and have been for many years now. It's not that I want to repeat myself, but I just watched this again on YouTube and it bears reposting. Here, Glenn Gould plays Goldberg Variations var.26-30 and the gorgeous Aria Da Capo, by J.S. Bach
So much beauty
I played at The Triple Door a few nights back. There was so much love in the audience that it actually drew the music out of me. Of all the beauty in the world, the most beautiful thing is people united by a common activity, a common interest. I have the best audiences I know of: never loud, raucous, or challenging. They're wonderful folks, and even the ones I hardly know seem like friends. Thank you to Diane, Carol, Jessica D., Nicki, Lawrence, Steve, Betsy, Brian... thank you for sharing time with me and listening so intently while I continue this lifelong search. Below is a rendition of my piece Love and Hate, played at The Triple Door.
You THINK too much...
" ...in this second lesson in the Chordscale Theory series where the tune Mack the Knife is analyzed and a transcription (!) of Jessica Williams improvising over the changes from her 1997 recording Higher Standards is examined for her use of chordscales in the solo." Yes, you know you're getting musky when the on-line vultures start to dissect your music and build lesson-oriented web sites around it. Strangely, I have absolutely NO clue what "Chordscale Theory" is, nor do I wish to know. I am obviously (according to them) already a master at it.
If life is hitting you too hard
...and if a 100mg-per-day diazepam addiction is starting to sound like a reasonable option, consider these cds, all recent, and all completely without screams of anguish and brutal rage or displays of furious pyrotechnics. They're downright peaceful, and they work for me. I listen to them a lot, and that's a good sign, since I'm pretty critical of my playing. I think what I like is that I don't try to show off. I just play. Pretty. There's Rain, and Ballads, and Prophets, and Offering, and Deep Monk, and Unity, and Resolution, and the critically-lauded Songs for a New Century, and its companion album, Billy's Theme. And there's always Jessica Plays for Lovers. Happy listening, since there are a lot of enticing mp3's to get you hooked. And not on diazepam. If burning the house down is more to your liking, it's all here
Another Jessica Williams Widget. Should I laugh or cry?
Get a mobile Jessica Williams cell-phone widget from PLUSMO There are Jessica Williams Ringtones, too (on iTunes and thousands of other outlets on the web). Someone is making money off these deals, and I assure you it is not me. Not one penny. That's why I always implore my audiences to buy my music from me. It's TRUE: I don't receive one penny from any on-line or brick and mortar sales of my work. It's true for MOST musicians. I even write about it here
Elaine Arc takes great photos
And here's one. Use it for a desktop picture if you want to. Her web site is here
A poem from Andre
A great honor for me, from a great musician and spiritual guide, Andre Feriante
My new piano
A Yamaha 7 foot 6 inch Conservatory Concert Grand. Mine. All mine. I can not say anything at the moment except wow, and "I got a good one here, folks!" More to follow. Click on thumbnail for large image. See here for commentary
A paroxysm of having stuff
I get tired when I practice or play for hours... and like to lie on the floor and listen to the playbacks. Well, no more lying on the floor for moi (even though I get lots of kisses from my little dog Angel). Now I can lay on my genuine leather couch and critique myself in a style befitting a true critic. I know that leather is out of style. But this is one comfortable couch!
I admit to enjoying the finer things. In my early years, I could never afford them. But now that I'm making so many dead presidents on iTunes (aghhh, wheeze, barf, hurl) I deserve it. Goddess knows, I deserve it. Holy s%$# do I deserve it! Where's my royalty checks, by the way?
Don't try this at home, kids:
Pianists: alert. The Gould does it to me again, this time in 5 installments: Glenn Gould plays a few Goldberg Variations
Portland giglet still a big gig
Click on the thumbnail pix at left for a larger picture of my small but spiritually luminous audience. People I needed to see that I haven't seen in a long while. Sandy Burlingame, Diane Johnston, Kirby and Amy Allen, Andrea, Hillary, Esther, George, and many more. And of course, I bought my piano from Classic Pianos - where we held the concert - and so it was great to see Peggie and Rick Zackery, to tell them how incredibly pleased I am with my new Yamaha 7'6" Conservatory Concert Grand with Blue Renner Hammers. My old piano may be becoming more popular than I. "Famous piano sighted" in the Seattle PI, and it looks familiar to me.
Large hands do not always great music make
Yoda said that. In plain English, meet Erroll Garner. Years ago when I was blue, Erroll would save whole days for me, lifting my mood in the first four bars. Lots of serious "jazz" musicians ignored or dismissed him, but those who knew this Music were aware of the miracle that was this man who sat on phone-books to get level with the piano. And here I am sawing legs off of chairs. I said it before... "music comes from your heart, not your hands." It blows me away that the crowd can sit there and not just get up and dance with joy. I can't wait to get some of that energy back, and watching this video does wonders for me. You too, I'll bet!
Happy Birthday to me
I was wondering why I was so tired all the time. Now I know. I'll be fine, and it sure is nice to know that I have a lot of mileage still left in me, and more real friends than I could ever ask for. It's good to know what was happening to me, and to know that it was real, and that it has a cure. I had having the best birthday of my life - my 60th on Mar 17. So if you're bone-tired all the time and you're gaining weight and your hair is thinning and you're getting slow and hoarse and dizzy and bloated and depressed and forgetful, please read this!
Is it me or is it the Levothyroxine?
It's me! Songs for a New Century is out now, and available here. Also, there's Deep Monk, Blood Music, and Prophets, all here. And more, including the somewhat medical-sounding Vital Signs.... didn't some "airport author" write a book with a similar title? It's my ode to my miraculously renewed health, and my unexpected but perhaps inevitable return to faster-than-light right hand lines. If you thought Tatum's Ultimatum was speedy, look out! And I have my first Grammy Nominee, Nothin But the Truth, on sale for a limited time only. Tangentially, why does my spell checker turn 'Levothyroxine' into 'Levity'? So much for smart software.
My 60th will go down in Herstory
Well, at least Mystory. Getting well after a years-long, misdiagnosed illness, being loved by so many people, being given so many gifts that fill my heart with joy (thankfully, no Oprah gifts... say, a Buick which you have to pay taxes on.) The talented video-audio genius Robbie Cribbs, owner of Sound Trap Studios, managed to get some fun footage. There are Quicktime videos here of my Bday Bash, as well as a lot of other vids. And yes, I had TWO bashes, the first engineered by my friend Richard, and the second plotted and perfectly executed by the immensely gifted pianist Maureen Girard. The fine jazz pianist Overton Berry was there too. What a beautiful life. 60th Bday vids
George Cables
The incredible and masterful jazz pianist George Cables recently underwent a double-transplant operation. So far, so good. George is a prince of a man, a genius, and a good friend. See georgecables.com. I visited his web site and was SO happy to see that he's touring and playing again. He is a trooper, a brave man, a good man, and one GREAT musician who has always played this music with dignity, and all of his heart and soul. A natural resource, a national treasure!
Powerful magic
As I put all of the principles of my playing together and revisit the musicians that have influenced me in the most profound ways, I'm finding that the "strange, eccentric, and often radical techniques" of Glenn Gould are working their magic. An example: sitting 16 inches off the ground works for me. It works SO well. It is the single best thing I have ever done to improve my interface with my instrument. Sitting 16 inches off the ground in a chair with a back to it. Not just any chair. Like Gould, I have my own now, and when it can travel with me, it will. When it can't, you'll find me backstage, before the concert, measuring chair heights. This epiphany and more here
Mel Funn
Two very important jobs in this life are making art and making people laugh. For laughs I recommend two very funny movies, both directed by (and starring) Mel 'it's good to be the King' Brooks - The History of the World Part One and Silent Movie in which Mel Brooks plays a character called Mel Funn. And here's a narrator's line from History; "And of course, with the birth of the artist came the inevitable afterbirth; the critic." (With apologies to Doug Ramsey...) And in Silent Movie we're treated to a stellar performance by Anne Bancroft, who could cross her eyes like nobody's business! (Anne was married to Mel for 46 years.)
North Carolina
I played at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on Oct 25, 07, and I shared that honor with Kenny Barron, Hank Jones, Randy Weston, Barry Harris, Johnny Griffin, Andy Bey... you have to know how much I love all of these great artists. And I played a good concert, at least by my standards. The dark side is this: the concert series was billed as a Monk tribute. I, being the only female artist on the six-week-long bill, was asked to pay equal tribute to Mary Lou Williams. I and I alone. I love Mary Lou, and I was prepared, as I'd written many tribute pieces to her. But here's where it gets weird: Monk had played in Durham for less than a week, just one time in his life. Mary Lou had taught at Duke for three years. Think about it. But not for too long, or blood will gush out of your ears.
The Brecon Music Festival
I just played solo piano at the Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales on Aug 12 07 ... and I did two TV shows, one for the BBC1 and one for BBC4. I was also at The Stables in Milton-Keynes, UK on Aug 14, and I really felt that both concerts were very special and very rewarding, for the audience and for myself. Here's a few pictures of me at Brecon by photographer Brian O'ConnerAND, BEST OF ALL, some video
My Dead Mother's Eyes
Here's a note that I attached to one of my new cds, Tatum's Ultimatum: [NOTE - This album is NOT sped up, digitalized, or in any way "faked". It is "at real speed", played by Jessica in "real time" on a real 7-foot Knabe concert grand. There are NO digital enhancements involved.] Now that's a new one, and I suppose I should take it as a compliment that some folks thought I was cheating. But on my Dead Mother's Eyes, I SWEAR I'd never digitize or speed up a performance. You want to see speed? Watch Glenn Gould on youTube ... and, as we all know, speed is not everything.
Glenn Gould
And my dedication CD to him, called Fantasias and Adagios. There is nothing to compare to his musicianship, his technical mastery, his deep understanding of the Music he's playing, the unbelievable control of elements of style, and the utterly mesmerizing readings of just about everything he played. And I don't believe I ever heard Gould make a mistake. If he did, I certainly didn't catch it. Rarely am I so moved by a pianist, and never have I been so moved as by this one. He has changed my own approach to the piano. I write more about that here and here
News Archive:
I'm getting used to working with videos now, and enjoying even editing them. I have no great love of writing code, but it sure is fun to see things work after laboring over them intensely for awhile, and I DO have a love of learning new things. It was no easy feat for me to figure out how to post that first Flash video, and the Quicktime versions were not much easier, even though I'm a Mac user. I hope the videos work for you. If you see spinach between your friend's teeth, let them know! So give the videos a try.
And, incidentally, the little script I'm using here to make these earlier posts into more compact versions of their previous volume is called Accordion. As you click on a title, it should open up to that subject. If it doesn't... well, then, it's another case of spinach and my need to floss more often, or, in this case, RTFM (geekspeak for "read the %$#@ manual...")
I continue to post new poems and prose in my writings section Currents, neither blog nor book, but simply a place to 'say my prayers' (our beloved Hoosier wordsmith Kurt Vonnegut referred to his writing process that way) and to clear my mind when it needs clearing. The section's relevance to Music is at most times questionable, but every time I try to remove it and slim my site down, someone goes and sends me an e-mail saying how much they enjoyed a particular article or poem (or chastises me for having opinions, which just adds fuel to the creative fire). I am thus disarmed from controlling the sheer tonnage of the Currents directory. The Web has made unwitting (and often witless) writers of many of us. But then, we're ALL Shakespeare's under our skull, Hemingway's in our heads, Hawthorne's in our hearts. It's just the degree of diplomacy with which we handle words that serves up such varied results
