JUST IN TIME

Description

“Just in Time” finally brought to light one of the most influential, though understated, jazz pianists. Recorded in 1989 with Bob Cranshaw on bass and Kenny Washington on drums, this trio session reveals all the depth of Willis’s lyrical playing, harmonic richness, and rhythmic sophistication. Willis’s career began with a vocal solo in Aaron Copland’s “The Second Hurricane,” under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, but jazz quickly won out. At 19, he played with Jackie McLean and Hugh Masekela, then with Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderley, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. His style, influenced by Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Herbie Hancock, blends cerebral modernism with soul-infused hard bop. The album offers a mix of standards and original compositions, including the swinging title track, the introspective “Soul Search,” and “T’s Bag Blues,” inspired by Monk. His Latin-tinged “Te Quiero Mi Hermano,” and his tribute to Herbie Hancock on “One Finger Snap,” reveal a pianist deeply steeped in rhythm and tradition. Critic Russ Musto writes: “Given the pianist’s steady progress over forty years of career, I’d say this album comes at just the right time. I buy it without hesitation. And I look forward to what comes next.” Willis himself praises Cranshaw’s work on the ballads and calls Washington “perhaps the best young drummer to have emerged in a long time.”