Touch

...one of the most distinctively original jazz pianists to be heard anywhere.
Audiophile Audition

Adding to her already transcendent collection of solo piano recordings for Origin Records, Jessica Williams furthers her legacy with Touch, recorded live at the Triple Door concert hall in Seattle. In her detailed and expansive liner notes, Ms. Williams reveals a thought process obsessed with voicings and touch - apparent in this program of originals and classics such as "Goodbye, Porkpie Hat" - and is perhaps what makes her the ultimate solo artist.

"She is Bill Evans with density, McCoy Tyner with a soft touch, she is none other than Jessica Williams." - All About Jazz


Read Dan McClenaghan's feature on Jessica at allaboutjazz.com

Production Info:

Produced by Jessica Williams & John Bishop
Recorded 1/7/2010 by Craig Montgomery
live at the Triple Door, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Mark Guenther
Cover photograph by Jimmy Katz
Other photography by Elaine Arc
Liner notes by Jessica Williams
Cover design by John Bishop

Reviews of Touch

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
Pianist Jessica Williams continues to evolve, and what a pure music lover's joy it is to hear an artist entering her sixth decade on a roll, growing and expanding her vision. Classically trained at the Peabody Conservatory, jazz-trained in the bands of Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Stan Getz and others, Williams furthered her education with her ...

All Music Guide (Ken Dryden)
Jessica Williams has amassed an impressive discography over her decades-long career, but as she entered her sixties, she began focusing more on solo piano. This is her second concert recording at The Triple Door in Seattle, a dinner theater with a majestic nine-foot Steinway D grand piano. Her touching, lyrical interpretation of "I Loves You, Porg ...

Audiophile Audition (John Henry)
The piano is no longer a percussion instrument for her - she sees it as foremost a symphonic stringed instrument with an enormous palette of colors. *****stars Pianist Jessica Williams was recorded live at The Triple Door in Seattle in this eight-track CD of four of her original compositions plus one each from Gershwin, Mingus, Coltrane and J ...

Oregon Jazz Scene (George Fendel)
Williams might say otherwise, but really, she has nothing to prove. Each new CD she has brought out in recent years is a passionate and joyous journey. Especially so is this new CD, where she plays solo and allows the piano to sing exquisite melodies, both hers and those of others. The opener is Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy," and it receives a nea ...

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey)
It would have been difficult to imagine that Williams might exceed what she achieved in her 2009 solo concert recording The Art of the Piano. Yet, less than a year later she returned to Seattle's Triple Door and gave this recital glowing with her customary pianistic dazzle and a nearly Brahmsian gravity leavened with wit. The album's title implies ...

All About Jazz - New York (Fred Bouchard)
Jessica Williams lights candles, sets moods and tells her deep stories in nobody's hurry, revolving a leisurely kaleidoscope of intimate variations on Touch. She says, "Neither life nor music is a contest." No more hammering, her fine style features internal linear dynamics and remarkable voicings. Her chiaroscuro narratives waft through seductive ...

JazzTimes (Mike Shanley)
Touch marks the second time Williams has recorded live at Seattle's Triple Door, and the intimacy shows up in strong reworkings of classics and her own thoughtful compositions. "I Loves You Porgy" feels gentle and romantic but not saccharine. The intro to "I Cover the Waterfront" sounds like Art Tatum channeling Thelonious Monk. Her left hand ta ...

Cadence Magazine (Michael Steinman)
Pianist Jessica Williams thinks deeply about her spiritual relationship with the instrument, and the deep cohesive bond is evident in her recordings. Touch finds her at one of her two favorite pianos in a comfortable space in Seattle, The Triple Door, where the audience is quietly attentive. Williams is a serious blend of the romantic experimente ...