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The State of the Piano 2009: Cyrus Chestnut and Jessica Williams
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Lester Young
saxophone1909 - 1959
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Lester Bowie
trumpet1941 - 1999
Art Tatum
piano1909 - 1956
Gene Harris
piano1933 - 2000
When speaking of solo piano performances, two beacons performing today are 
Cyrus Chestnut
piano
b.1963
Jessica Williams
piano
1948 - 2022
Cyrus Chestnut
Spirit
Jazz Legacy Productions
2009
Spirit can be considered the sister release to Cyrus Chestnut's 1997 Christmas release Blessed Quiet: Collection of Hymns, Spirituals and Carols (Atlantic Jazz) and 2000's reinterpretation of 
Vince Guaraldi
piano
1928 - 1976
Where those recordings dealt directly with seasonal classics, Spirit cultivates religiously related material from several different sources, including the church hymnal, jazz, pop music and original composition. While conservatory trained, at the Peabody Institute in classical music and the Berklee College of Music in jazz, Chestnut's biggest influence may well be the church, where he served as keyboard player before his teens.
Western Christian tradition has provided a mostly inexhaustible inventory of music for any manner of interpretation. On Spirit, Chestnut pays both celestial and temporal homage to traditional African-American gospel with material including "That Old Time Religion," "Wade In The Water," Bill Withers' "Lean on Me," 
Duke Ellington
piano
1899 - 1974
While the church certainly informs Chestnut's playing, that playing possesses a greater polish and lacks the earthy organic nature otherwise possible in interpretation (consider the aforementioned Gene Harris). Chestnut spins a reverent sophistication into his performances that emerges as an insistent left-hand figure on "Lean On Me" and a Lisztian-Schubert anxiety beneath "Bridge Over Troubled Water. Chestnut's deep bass notes are well captured here. Spirit proves anything but a predictable treatment of spiritual themes. Chestnut raises praise to an art form.
Visit Cyrus Chestnut on the web.
Jessica Williams
The Art of the Piano
Origin Records
2009
After recording for several labels, Jessica Williams may have found her most empathetic home at Origin Arts. She has produced several fine recordings with the label that include: Songs (with Carolyn Graye)(0A2, 1997); Billy's Theme: A Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor (Origin, 2006); Songs for a New Century (2008, Origin); and now, in 2009, The Art of the Piano, recorded in solo performance live at The Triple Door, Seattle.
Like Cyrus Chestnut, Williams enjoyed classical training at the Peabody Institute but forewent any additional academics for a stint in drummer 
Philly Joe Jones
drums
1923 - 1985
"Love and Hate" is such a piece, where Williams employs a variety of percussive techniques to color her melodies. "Elaine" is an ostensible ballad with harmonics borrowed from Tin Pan Alley and shown through a prism of modernity. Williams plays two standards, Erik Satie's "First Gymnopedie" and John Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament." In the former, Williams instills a steady whimsy and in the Coltrane piece, she captures all of the saxophonist's angular presentation of his wall of sound. Jessica Williams has attracted much attention lately and it is about time. She is 
Bill Evans
piano
1929 - 1980
McCoy Tyner
piano
1938 - 2020
Visit Jessica Williams on the web.
Tracks and Personnel
Spirit
Tracks: Oh How I Love Jesus; Lift Every Voice and Sing; Blessed Assurance; Wade In The Water; Lean on Me; I Surrender All; Gospel Improv #1; Old Time Religion; Bridge Over Troubled Water; Come Sunday; All By All; All Creatures of Our God and King; Peace; The Lord's Prayer.
Personnel: Cyrus Chestnut: piano.
The Art of the Piano
Tracks: Triple Door Blues; Esperanza; Love and Hate; Elaine; First Gymnopedie; Prophets; Diane; Lonnie's Lament.
Personnel: Jessica Williams: piano.
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