Jazz Odyssey: From Sf To Copenhagen To Seattle

When jazz pianist Jessica Williams started packing her bags last March, she knew was leaving Sacramento, Calif., but she had no idea she was coming to Seattle.

"I had decided to move to Copenhagen, actually," laughed the tall, intense pianist, whose reputation in the San Francisco area has justifiably grown over the past 10 years. "I landed this record deal with Timeless (an Amsterdam-based label), so I figured it might be nice for a change of scenery. I sold my piano and gave a lot of stuff away and left."

Copenhagen was a mighty disappointment. Cigarettes cost $6, a bunch of green onions cost $2, the weather was miserable and there were few places for jazz musicians to perform.

"There was one jazz club - Sophie's Cellar," she explained, of the town Dexter Gordon had once made his home. "The Montmartre (a famous Danish club) is almost all rock now. There wasn't a whole lot of interest in the music there, from what I could tell."

After a month, Williams was ready to come home. Having pulled up stakes in California, almost on the spur of the moment she decided to come to Seattle.

"I had been here once," she says, "when I played Parnell's (an old Pioneer Square jazz club) in the early '80s. I had always felt this might be a nice place to live. It's one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I had no plans. I got into town and called Jay Thomas (whose father had owned Parnell's). His father put me up in the little motel he owns."

Two weeks later, Jessica Williams had an apartment south of Seattle and was checking out the local scene, playing at Prosito's, in Tacoma, and introducing herself to bassist Buddy Catlett, at the Thirteen Coins.

Williams is working locally in several venues with a trio that features drummer Larry Jones (also a newcomer, reportedly very hot) and bassist Jeff Johnson. Saturday, the Williams trio appears at Patti Summers, at the Pike Place Market, as part of a two-night, minifestival featuring a roundup of fine local players, including guitarist Milo Peterson and pianist/vocalist Frederick Tuxx, tomorrow; and Williams, the wonderful Billie Holiday-styled vocalist Wanda Brown and Woody Woodhouse, Saturday. (Admission $6; 441-9729.)

Denmark's loss was our gain. Unlike so many pianists coming up these days, Williams has an original voice. She does not sound as if she was stamped out of the Herbie Hancock/Chick Corea/McCoy Tyner mold. Her two most obvious influences are Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, but even these giants speak through her, not for her.

Her new album on Timeless, ". . .And Then, There's This!" features six originals. A gorgeous ballad, "The Child Within," showcases her fine-tuned ear for melody and sensitive, but never sentimental, touch. "Nichol's Bag," a clever homage to the great Herbie Nichols, reveals her ear for tradition as well as an amazing right-hand technique that sprays out sequences of notes so clean and crisp they almost sound synthesized.

Williams, 42, acquired her prodigious technique through eight years at Philadelphia's Peabody Conservatory. Her jazz and blues roots came from several years playing Hammond B-3 in organ trios in Baltimore and Philly.

Williams moved to the Bay Area in 1979. A decade of hard work and 10 recordings made her a local legend. From 1980-'83, she was house pianist at San Francisco's Keystone Korner, where she played opening sets with her trio and often filled the piano chair for such greats as Gordon, Jackie McLean, Airto and Flora and Stan Getz.

Seattleites are lucky to be catching Williams on the way up. Her new contract with Timeless has netted her two tours of Europe this year, including a spot at the North Sea Jazz Festival. A Japanese tour is in the works. Marian McPartland has asked her to appear on her National Public Radio show "Piano Jazz," and Williams will record her second CD for Timeless in Paris next month. A recent National Endowment for the Arts fellowship allowed her to spend a year on her compositions.

Like several other musicians who have moved to Seattle (Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz among them), Williams views Seattle as a beautiful, livable home base where she can work in peace, but from which she can also catch a plane for anywhere in the world.

"All my life, I've wanted to do just what I'm doing," she reflects. "Obviously, I was not ready for it until now."

Beyond this weekend, other upcoming gigs for Williams include the New Orleans Restaurant Oct. 13, and a Sunday night at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley Nov. 24.

"I got a real homey feeling about Patti Summers," says Williams, who has already performed there once. "I like those people. They helped me with advice and free dinners when I got here. I go there and it's like `welcome home.' "

Chances are, Jessica Williams is going to be getting a warm welcome wherever she appears over the next few months.

Bluenotes: Spots for local jazz artists have mushroomed. Dimitriou's has opened Sunday one-nighters to area players, starting next month. Andre Kitaev, the Russian emigre in Portland, appears soon (details: 441-9729).

Jazz dates: The incomparable Betty Carter is at Jazz Alley through Saturday, followed by Andy Narell (Oct. 14-19), Maynard Ferguson (Oct. 21-26) and the great tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine (Oct. 28-Nov. 1). . . The Bathhouse After Hours sessions, led by Jay Clayton and Jim Knapp Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. at the Bathhouse Theatre, continue to feature the best of regional artists, with Wayne Horvitz, tomorrow and Saturday; Hadley Caliman, Oct. 11 and 12; and percussionist/composer Bob Moses, Nov. 1-2. . . The Downunder (2407 First Ave., 728-4053), has guitarist Michael Powers celebrating the release of his new album on Nastymix Jazz, "Perpetual Motion," Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. and the Chuck Metcalf Octet, Oct. 14. . . the Intergalactic Arkestra of Sun Ra makes a landing at the Backstage, Oct. 29. . . The New Orleans Restaurant has Marlon Jordan, Oct. 23-27. Paul de Barros is a free-lance critic who specializes in jazz, folk and experimental music and performance art.