06/03/0006 chris parker

‘You could have heard the proverbial pin drop while Williams spun solos packed with dynamic and textural nuance from her melodic, gently lyrical original material, interspersing it with intriguing visits to modern jazz classics by the likes of Thelonious Monk. A small triumph, not only for Williams and her hair-trigger-accurate rhythm section (lithe bassist Jeremy Brown and brisk drummer Tristan Mailliot), but also for the aforementioned Vortex Steinway, which positively sang under her fingers.’

17/02/0006 peter vacher

Williams has found her voice as both composer and player. For this, her
third CD, the London-based pianist has chosen again to trust her own
judgment as far as the material is concerned and produced the best album of
her career so to date. I’ve played it a lot and can commend it for its range
and thoughtful quality. There are Monkian moments and more than a hint of
Bill Evans’s gliding momentum but mostly what you hear is from Williams
herself. She’s a serious player, and I mean that as a compliment, her
musings complemented by the polished support of Brown and Mailliot who both
know when to put their collective foot down or back off.

Williams likes catchy motifs, as on ‘Disparity’, with its opening riff and
sudden shifts of mood and texture. ‘I’m Still Awake’ is a springy groover,
harmonically canny, with a Thelonious twist, the improvisation spare yet
swingy, with Maillot and Brown purring along in pursuit. With ten pieces,
eight by Williams herself, plus ‘Day Dream’ by Duke and ‘Monk’s Dream’,
there’s plenty here to digest, clever voicings at every turn, the music
mostly concise yet potent too.

06/02/0006 chris parker

'For her third album, Dankworth-award-winning pianist Kate Williams has recorded eight originals and a couple of jazz classics (Ellington/Strayhorn’s ‘Day Dream’ and ‘Monk’s Dream’) with an alert, responsive rhythm section: bassist Jeremy Brown and drummer Tristan Mailliot. Although loosely themed around both its overall and individual titles (‘The Scenic Route’ an appropriately meandering theme, ‘Water’s Edge’ containing suitably ‘lapping’ piano sounds, etc.) the album is a richly varied programme. Williams is an unshowy, subtle player, relying on displacements of rhythmic emphasis rather than dazzling runs to make her musical points, but her soloing is none the less cogent and powerful for that, and her themes, ranging from the overtly lyrical to the tastefully percussive, are immediately memorable, intensely melodic yet complex enough to provide absorbing bases for lively trio interaction. Admirably unfussy, impeccably performed, this is a fine trio album from a pianist/composer who should be better known.'