Songs Of Earth

Refusing to declare itself of any genre, Jessica Williams' new collection of solo piano works was mostly composed on the spot over several performances at Seattle's Triple Door. The collection formed itself through Williams' countless hours listening to the raw recordings with the separate pieces becoming a single story in her mind. It's a novel written in public and the theme, while oceanic in scope, is musically subtle as the intention of it did not exist during it's performance. Containing very few pre-rehearsed lines - a stellar rendition of John Coltrane's "To Be" and sketches of two original works - it exists only for the symphonic nature of the solo piano. "... The Williams touch arises from every aspect of her musicality and goes beyond technique into the rarified territory of recognizability."