Updated Feb 1st, 2012* -
As Santayana once reportedly announced, "How will I know what I think unless I talk about it?" Makes sense. At least it explains why he talked so much. So this news page serves as a posting board for events, complaints, ambitions and actual thoughts... which leads inevitably to my voluminous, enormous, organically-grown writings section, Currents. Also, JJW downloads on iTunes
with the iTunes Player. But we'd rather you buy my CDs here. That way, I actually get paid for my music. Novel, anti-corporate idea! Read about the cold, hard truth here
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Resolve for 2012
- Never judge myself by using other people's ideas and opinions about me.
- Never let others direct my life, and never live by the results of other people's thinking.
- Never spend time with people who are toxic to me.
- Wasting time on trivia is no longer an option.
- Never let the evil or distorted belief systems of others cloud my own thinking.
- Be aware that I am not here to be liked, but to be myself and do my job.
- Never judge anything by appearance.
- Fight against prejudice and ignorance in all forms, but choose the battles carefully.
- Know my own limitations. There's NOTHING to prove.
- The love I take is equal to the love I make
2012: a better year for us all...
Below, my newest piano (bought in Nov, 2011). An early Baldwin, unnumbered, estimated to have been built in 1897. It's just shy of seven feet long. It's what pianos are supposed to be. It's full of warmth and color and contrasts, and I'm getting ready to record some of my music on it. What a beautiful gift it was to find and acquire this wonderful piano. And yes, that's real mahogany. So I'll be playing my 21st Century music on a 19th Century instrument. That's a cool stretch. And for contrast, note the Yamaha Motif XF8 in the background. It's a perfect time to move forward, to play it and pay it forward.
Black Friday on Thursday
A lot like Mordor, but with pepper-spray and shopping carts. I have a feeling that next year, many will die as the Huns advance into previously uncharted territory, this time using catapults to launch themselves first into the fray (perhaps after setting themselves on fire), and then employing their gigantic mutant elephants for a quick, albeit noisy exit... using shock-and-awe tactics on the cashiers, who won't take this lying down. If they can get up.
My new CD for Origin Arts
My new trio CD for Origin Arts is called Freedom Trane. Available now, here. In a digipak! Here's the cover by Origin Arts' design genius, John Bishop... also the president of the company. He does it all, and does it well. Check out all the albums I have available here... listen, read, and buy if you are so disposed. Thank you! (Update: a chart-buster)
Contradiction?
Several people have pointed out that right after posting some quotes by Apple's guru, the late Steve Jobs, I followed up with my positive feelings about the "99 Percent" or Occupy Wall Street Movement. This was too much of a contradiction in philosophies for some to bear. "Steve Jobs epitomized miserly greed and corporate elitism, the very things you seem to rail against," opined the emails I received. What can I say? I like the quotes. And I stand with the 99. I use a Mac, and I know that Apple is an out-sourcing corporate monolith, just as I know that our democracy is in a great deal of trouble. But somehow I muddle through the day knowing full well that every time I pay my electric bill, I feed the beast that exemplifies miserly greed and corporate elitism, and some fat cat gets fatter... I just really like the light and the heat.
Thoughts about death from Steve Jobs
Like anyone else, I'm sorry to hear that a vastly creative force has left us. And just because I use a Mac doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a "fan-girl" or a Steve Jobs Cheerleader... there are certainly enough stories out there to draw him as a saint, a villain, or anything in-between. I'm not interested in stories, rumors, and opinions. I know I love working on my Mac, and that it does exactly what I ask of it. I'm running the OSX "Lion" right now, and it is very cool. So I thank Steve Jobs for being so creative and hip and for always thinking "outside the box". Yet I'm more moved to set down a few of his own thoughts here, because they are pretty much very close to how I live my own life, and they resonate powerfully with me. These words of his were delivered to a graduating class at Stanford University in 2005, long before he knew he was dying. He thought that he had twenty years or so more to go, because the doctors had told him that his pancreatic cancer was of a rare form and that it could be treated.
"Every morning I ask myself: If today were the last day of my life, would I WANT to do what I am about to do today? And if the answer is NO for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." - Steve Jobs
"Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that's as it should be. Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It's Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but not too long from now, you will gradually become the old, and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true." - Steve Jobs
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know of to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." - Steve Jobs
"Your time is very limited, so don't spend it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by DOGMA - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become." - Steve Jobs
And there was the time, right after the great drummer and human being Tony Williams died, when I told all of the people in my audience, "It seems like only weeks ago I was playing in San Francisco with Tony. And now he's dead. At fifty-one. So I realize that each and every one of us is going to die. And this makes me able to love and appreciate you and your lives even more." That was a Jessica Williams quote. The next day in a prominent Seattle paper there was a review of that concert... and the reviewer wrote, "and then she told everyone they were going to die... what a downer."
Maybe said reviewer isn't going to die. I know I am. And it's not just my Jewish-Buddhist nature that resonates with Steve Jobs' words. It gives me a real feeling of personal freedom to know that, as long as I do what I believe in with all of my heart, I'm on the right track, the only track. The track that leads through my beautiful Life to my inevitable Death. Thanks for the words, Steve Jobs.
99 Everywhere
This will take many years and we will suffer much heartbreak and much disappointment. But we have the time, we have the power, we are the 99. To create a world of parity, of social justice, of the WE and not the ME, of sharing and growing and changing and building, we have the time for this. This is our evolution as a species. This is not an overnight indulgence.
THERE IS NO ONE SINGLE PURPOSE. It is as wild and as wide as the human psyche, as deep as the subconscious, as real as the dreams of our ancestors and as inevitable as the rising of our sun. It is as NECESSARY as our air, food, and water. It is the plan the Earth has for us as children. We are taking up the mantle of responsibility, rationality, and stewardship. We are becoming fully human. This is the end of our childhood. This is the beginning of our planetary experience. This is the beginning of the next billion years. We cannot allow it to be otherwise. This is not just a struggle between factions. It is a visceral chord that is being struck between the Earth and its citizens. It is an almost involuntary reaction to that which is not rational, sane, or kind. It is the meaning of Truth coming from our bioenergetic CORE, and it can no more be stopped than the orbits of the planets around the sun. This is why this is much more than a MOVEMENT. IT IS THE INEVITABLE REACTION OF SANE PEOPLE TO PSYCHOSIS. The leaders are insane. The corporations are insane. The wars are insane. The misuse of resources is insane... There are so many insane things going on, all at once, that the healthy human brain recoils with disgust and horror. OUR FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET IS AT STAKE. And, for that, we will not fail. Posted also at commondreams.org
Thought for the millennium
Written in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, US feminist and reformer, as a call to women everywhere to stand up for PEACE as the nation tried to recover from the Civil War: 'Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.'
No kakking in my immediate future
I have hypothyroidism as do millions of people, and ninety-percent of us are women. That means that research into the causes and cure of this disease is woefully under-funded. So I've done my own research. Fortunately I am NOT an endocrinologist, as it seems my brain still functions adequately. Read what I (and the New England Journal of Medicine) think about porcine thyroid, T3, and Avicel fillers.
What an honor
My new album Touch is in Dan McClenaghan's Top Ten for 2010 on AllAboutJazz - AND Scott Yanow's Top Ten for 2010 in JazzTimes
Read the first review for TOUCH by Dan McClenaghan of AllAboutJazz...
Perhaps the finest review I've ever received. And here's a lengthy interview with me by Dan McLenaghan. Also, a great review from Audiophile Audition, and, best of all, the review by the veteran himself, master jazz critic Doug Ramsey. Also, here's my latest (audio) ASCAP Interview
TOUCH is here
My latest release for OriginArts is here, well before its "street date. The doorbell rings. I don't want to talk to anyone. And later I go to the door and open it a bit. And there's that stack of boxes that I didn't think would be here for a few months yet. Aren't CD releases always late? Obviously, not with John Bishop's label. This one is special. 'Specialer' than all the rest, to me. It's like a curve in the road. It's where I listen and nod, and say to myself, "I made this, and it's good." I don't often get a big kick out of a new release, but this one is different. This one takes me to places I've always wanted to go... Art is hard to make sometimes. You have to go through the fire to get to where you want to be, sometimes. Sometimes you never get there. I hope you love this one as I do
The many talents of Art Rosch
In between being a writer, a poet, a professional photographer, a jazz drummer, a philosopher, an astronomer, a lover of dogs and cats, and a novelist, Art Rosch has plenty to say, both in words at his Blog of Fascination, and at his beautiful photography site. Art Rosch is prolific, indefatigable, intransigent, and greatly gifted. He has a certain youthful aspect in his work, and he hits on some real truths, both in his writing and his photography. These sites are definitely worth a visit, and you might find yourself staying for awhile... his output is astounding and his ideas are often uncanny and mesmerizing. At artrosch.com
From the Doug Ramsey Vault...
And number one on the list, too...
Dan McClenaghan's Top Ten CDs for 2009. View the article here. It's 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. My fourth album for Origin, TOUCH, will be on sale here and around the globe in late July. I also just released The Golden Light, an album I made in 1977! When I heard it after all these years, I flipped! This music served as the foundation for a lot of my work that came afterwards. It possesses elements that I'm already revisiting in my playing, such as increased freedom, risk-taking, pure creative joy, and a go-for-it attitude tempered by a calm center. Music is for communicating, cooperating, and spreading the light.
Carlos Montoya
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 cyber-city, 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
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, 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 thyroxine?
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
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
