Creating one of contemporary urban jazz’s most extraordinary and enduring success stories, Pamela Williams’ recording career began with an incendiary bang, with her 1996 debut album The Saxtress hit the Top Ten on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and stayed on the list for five months, earning her accolades as the publication’s Best Female Contemporary Jazz Artist of the Year.
Nearly three decades and four #1 radio hits later, the powerhouse performer – whose nickname “The Saxtress” has defined and driven her the whole time – is still a joyful, exuberant force to be reckoned with. While it’s been a while since she dropped a full length album, she’s released a series of popular singles since 2020, including “Coast To Coast,” “Serendipity,” “Stone Cold,” “Spellface Beach” and, earlier in 2024, “The Right Time.”
While you catch up on all the grooving coolness of these othcr gems, consider yourself “Funktified” by her latest track, a high spirited, old schoolin’, intensely funky horn textured jam featuring veteran Dallas based keyboardist Linny Nance, who works all sorts of bluesy keyboard magic in addition to his sparkling piano solos and witty, snazzy conversations with Pamela’s robust horn fire. The Saxtress, who promises a new full length album in 2025, stays at the top of her game here, weaving a sly, deeply soulful melody and those intricate brass textures in and around Nance’s keyboard and piano excitement.
Just as we’re trippin’ out on the sizzling brass and thinking it’s the greatest Tower of Power track TOP never recorded, Pamela ups the solo emotional magic with some punchy lead lines and improvs, reminding us with these precious explosive moments why we fell in love with her back in the day. While she’s invited us back into her sonically sensual and hard grooving world bit by bit with this array of amazing singles, let’s hope 2025 unleashes the full-on comeback of The Saxtress. Another collab with Nance wouldn’t be a bad idea either!
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