Jessica Williams is a well-known and highly respected pianist and composer who has deep roots in the Jazz Tradition. Dave Brubeck calls her "One of the greatest jazz pianists I have ever heard." McCoy Tyner says "Jessica is a beautiful player" and Rolling Stone Magazine calls her "A vibrant force on the contemporary music scene." This two-time Grammy Nominee was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and classically trained at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She moved to Philadelphia during her teens and began playing with the great Philly Joe Jones, drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet. In her mid-twenties, she moved to California, where she played in the bands of Eddie Harris, Dexter Gordon, Tony Williams, Stan Getz, Big Nick Nicholaus, Airto and Flora, Charlie Rouse, John Abercrombie, Charlie Haden, Leroy Vinnegar, and others. Jessica has released over 40 albums in a career spanning almost as many years. She has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; a Rockerfeller Grant for composing; the Alice B. Toklas Grant for Women Composers, and the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. In Europe, she scored Jazz Record of the Year for 2 consecutive years in the Jazz Journal International Reader's Poll. She has been an honored guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. She has written scores for PBS and HBO specials, and has recorded discs for Yamaha DiscKlavier.