Pianist Bradley Williams is well-known in Chicago for his jazz work with visiting luminaries Sheila Jordan and Joe Henderson, as well as long associations with Chicago mainstays Von Freeman and Art Hoyle. From his early days in Chicago as musical director at the legendary Gold Star Sardine Bar he's developed a reputation for sensitive accompaniment and creative arranging for vocalists. His artistry has complemented a host of Windy City talent including Spider Saloff, Shelley MacArthur, Eden Atwood , Jackie Allen and Amy Jill.
In the late '90s and early '00s he parlayed these skills into his modern jazz variety show, The Original 21st Century Review, a multi-horn, multi-vocalist ensemble performing classic and original jazz compositions. The Review toured internationally and recorded numerous CDs and soundtracks. This eleven-piece ensemble spun off into various quartets featuring vocal duets between Williams and Review vocalist Gingi Lahera.
In late 2010 he composed, orchestrates and recorded with Chicago's City Lights Orchestra “Letter from a Birmingham Jail Cell," a symphonic tone-poem backdrop for Dr. Martin Luther King's famous missive.
With the 2011 suite Sojourn, his latest endeavor, Bradley Williams finds a fresh expressive voice. He pairs his piano trio and a string quartet in a set of twelve original movements, eleven instrumental and one vocal. The mood of the set ranges widely from melodic, Debussy-influenced textures to driving swing, and waltzes, in the veins of modern jazz ("Onward and Sideways") and samba ("Gal Costa.") Vocalist Jade Maze brings her touch to part eleven, the pop-oriented ballad “I'll Let You Break My Heart Again."
Sojourn receives its concert premiere March 25th, 2011, at DePaul University's Concert Hall (800 W. Belden in Chicago), an 8 p.m., free and open-to-the-public performance. In addition to his long-time trio partners, bassist Dan DeLorenzo and drummer Mike Schlick, Williams will be joined by the Hawk String Quartet, an ensemble noted for its jazz-oriented work with vocalist Kurt Elling and composer/saxophonist Jim Gailloreto . The Hawk Quartet includes Jill Kaeding on cello, Katherine Hughes and Carol Kalvonjian on violin, and Benton Wedge at the viola. Chicago vocalist/composer Jade Maze will add her talents as well.
The March 25th event will also serve as the official release of the Sojourn compact disc (21st Century Entertainment 100210, available on CDBaby.com and Itunes.) The recording features Williams, his above-mentioned trio, Jade Maze, and the expressive string quartet of Blaise Magniere and Marie Wang on violin, Tony Devroye on viola, and Cheng-Hou Lee at the cello.
For more information regarding Bradley Williams visit BradleyWilliamsLive.com. The Hawk Quartet with Jim Gailloreto can be seen and heard at jazzstringquintet.com, and Jade Maze at JadeMaze.com.
Contact:
DePaul University School of Music Music.DePaul.edu (773)325-4356
