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"Jeff Williams has been on a late-career roll - drawing fresh energy and ideas from a pool of younger US and British musicians, and balancing a jazz sensibility honed from the 1960s with a relaxation about letting contemporary improvisers roam. This live recording from London's Vortex catches a superb Williams band in flight on a mix of new and older originals. Jeff Williams' classic-jazz roots go deep, but there's nothing backward-looking about this vividly powerful set."

Jazzwise (John Fordham) ★★★★

"Williams's tautly-constructed, inventive tunes, replete with killer hooks, are pivotal to this excellent album, as are the protagonists who execute it with consummate expertise."

All About Jazz ★★★★ Full Review Here

"This was adventurous, contemporary jazz of the highest order..."

The Jazz Mann (of live Shrewsbury Jazz event 13.01.18) Read full review below

"Jeff Williams is on a roll recording such high-quality material..."

Bebop Spoken Here Read Full Album Review

"Not pandering to the pots and pans crowd, you can just picture the hipsters nodding their heads approvingly to the beat."

MIDWEST RECORD (USA)

“One expects rhythmic interest from the compositions of a drummer. Experience has also led me to expect some pretty tunes. Jeff Williams confounds the latter expectation at least. There are strong themes and rich harmonies in his writing, but what you won’t find is much sentimentality or sweetness. No-nonsense is an adjective that could be applied to everything about him as a musician. “

Peter Bacon The Jazz Breakfast

“A restless musician and a continually evolving, always interesting composer.”

Phontas Troussas (Blog GR)

“Having the opportunity to play around the UK during 2016-17, following the release of ‘Outlier’, took my band to another level. John O’Gallagher and I have a long history of playing in each other’s ensembles and adding him to the UK group has enriched all of us. Gonçalo Marquez, whom I added most recently, provides an original and distinctive trumpet voice, as well as facilitating a three-horn front line. ‘Lifelike’ is the culmination of many things, most of all the development of a group conception only made possible by playing together for an extended period”.

Jeff Williams

Jeff Williams Jazzwise quote

Jeff Williams' fourth album for Whirlwind (following 2011’s 'Another Time', 2013’s 'The Listener' and 2015's 'Outlier'), Lifelike was recorded in front of an enthusiastic Vortex audience on a sultry June evening. As an experienced leader at the kit, with an instinctive, deeply imbued jazz sensibility, Williams coaxes intelligent, colorful interplay from his colleagues. Like all masters of a genre, Jeff Williams has profoundly internalized the traditions of jazz without being tyrannized by its conventions. Fusing and remixing his influences into his own unique voice, he refuses to constrain himself to a single stylistic approach. Most vitally, he wants his audience to respond to his music emotionally: “It’s my continued vision – my aim to offer something that’s universal but also personal, and which might transport the listener into a realm that’s pleasurable and thought-provoking."
FOR MORE INFO ABOUT 'Lifelike' AND TO LISTEN CLICK HERE

Jeff Williams VORTEX VID SHOT

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR VIDEO 'DREAM VISITOR' RECORDED LIVE @ THE VORTEX

Jeff's Lifelike Team Players

Josh Arcoleo, was a 2011 1st class degree graduate of the Royal Academy of music (where he had one to one lessons with Jeff) while also winning a Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholarship and the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize, the latter including a recording contract with Edition Records for his debut album 'Beginnings'. In addition to leading his own groups he has toured with artists ranging from Pee Wee Ellis to Joss Stone.
"One of the best young saxophonists to emerge in the UK in recent years” –Ian Mann

Pianist Kit Downes, who's solo organ recording for ECM is coming next year, composes for and tours with his own group 'Tricko' (in which he plays piano, with Lucy Railton - cello), while also working with 'Wedding Music' (playing church organ, Tom Challenger - saxophone) and piano trio 'The Enemy' featuring Petter Eldh (bass) and James Maddren (drums). He also plays and writes for 'Troyka', and collaborates with many other musicians, composers, artists, filmmakers and organisations.
"One of the finest pianists of his generation" - Timeout Magazine

Double bassist Sam Lasserson has worked with Jeff in a number of different ensembles, including those led by Martin Speake, Ethan Iverson and Mike Chillingworth. John Fordham called him “the linchpin” in Jeff’s quintet. Others who regard Sam in the same manner include George Crowley, Emilia Martensson, Julian Arguelles and Jim Hart, to name but a few. Sam also joins Jeff and American saxophonist John O’Gallagher in the group Valence, whose recently released debut CD on Willful Archives was called “An absorbing and thrilling example of the art of the trio” by Ian Mann.

John O'Gallagher is considered one of the most compelling alto saxophonists and composers at work today on the New York jazz scene. He is known for an innovative style which pushes the boundaries of jazz while remaining rooted in it's tradition. During the past 25 years living in New York he has become known for his projects as a leader, and as a sought after sideman, working with artist such as Joe Henderson, Maria Schnieder, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Hart, Tony Malaby, Jeff Williams, Tom Rainey, Chris Cheek, Ralph Alessi, Rudresh Manhathappa, Mike Formanek, Ben Monder and numerous others.
"Mr. O'Gallagher is an exploratory alto saxophonist with a clear melodic streak" - The New York Times

Gonçalo Marques,a graduate of Berklee College of Music studied with Tiger Okoshi, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Bill Pierce, Ed Tomassi and mainly with John McNeil from the New England Conservatory. An active player on the Portuguese jazz scene, Gonçalo performs regularly with the Hot Club Big Band, with the LUME orchestra, with his own groups and as a freelancer. The trumpeter hosts a jam session every Sunday at the Café Tati and curates jazz there every other Wednesday. In addition to having played with most contemporary Portuguese Jazz musicians he has also performed with Bill McHenry, Jeff Williams, Guillermo Klein and Jacob Sacks and has released three CDs as a leader.

LesterBarnesJeff

photo © Lester Barnes

Across a career spanning four decades, it would seem easiest to consider the musicians with whom Jeff Williams hasn’t worked. A respected stalwart of the international jazz circuit, the American drummer has most notably accompanied Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano.

Since making a second home in London, following marriage to novelist Lionel Shriver, Jeff Williams has performed in the UK with Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, and has toured with Bill McHenry, the Phil Robson/Dave Liebman Quartet, and Martin Speake's Change of Heart (with Bobo Stenson) while also collaborating with Hans Koller, Mike Gibbs, Nikki Iles and many others.

LIVE RECENT & UPCOMING DATES

March 30 – Lisbon Jazz Festival, Portugal
Lifelike with Gonçalo Marquez, John O’Gallagher, Josh Arcoleo, Sam Lasserson
April 28 – Bloom, St. Marks Church in the Bowery, 131 East 10th St., NYC
April 30 – Bloom, Halyards, Brooklyn, NY
June 7th – Lifelike, NC Jazz, Northampton, UK
Oct 25 – Jeff Williams Lifelike, Sheffield Jazz, UK

CURRENTLY CONFIRMIING & BOOKING 2019 ONWARDS

Shrewsbury best of the bunch

The Jeff Williams Quintet mesmerising the Shrewsbury Jazz audience in January. Photo D. White

CONTACT & BOOKINGS

Danielle White
daniraestar@aol.com
+44 (0)7841 675 263
www.willfulmusic.com/
http://www.whirlwindrecordings.com/jeff-williams/
MUSIC UPON REQUEST

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reach out to promoters and beyond with your message, photos and videos via Raestar Promotions | Danielle White +44 (0)7841675263 daniraestar@aol.com| www.daniraestar.com
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