Great balls a'fire! Jason D. Williams scorching performance is red hot
By Mary Anne Swanstrom
September 27, 2009, 5:25PM
Jason D. Williams performs on the
Coca Cola stage at Sunday's Big Spring Jam in
Huntsville.His resemblance to "The
Killer" is uncanny - from his auburn curls to his
incendiary performance on the piano, Jason D. WIlliams
set the Coca Cola stage on fire and reminded the Sunday
night crowd where rock 'n' roll was born - Memphis. And
why the music was considered so deliciously sinful, back
in the day.
Williams bounced out to a rockabilly beat vamped by his
band, The Mighty Three," and like an incorrigible third
grade class clown, never stopped wriggling for a solid
hour. Revving up to high-energy classics "Everybody's
Rockin' Tonight," "Wine Spodie Odie," "Come On to My
House," "Alabama Jubilee," and to be equitable, "Hold
That Tiger," the virtuoso pianist constantly modulated
from one song to the next, his band swinging right along
with him.
Williams really cut loose, jumping up on top of his Kawai piano, rolling over on his stomach and playing backwards, upside down and every which way but actually seated on his bench - he had tossed it away, anyhow, and had the ample crowd jiving to his relentlessly optimistic boogie woogie.
Williams constantly cut up, grabbing a pair of drumsticks and horning in on his drummer's solo, from the piano, of course, flinging a cowboy boot to the keyboard for a one-footed glissando (because his two hands were otherwise occupied), and regaling the audience with tall tales and kooky, out-of-left field humor.
The gifted musician stretched his musical muscle, melodically working his way out of his rockabilly comfort zone to improvise on the theme from "The Exorcist," Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King."
Williams' last number, an homage to his mentor Jerry Lee Lewis, really brought down the house. After pounding out "Great Balls of Fire," his piano collapsed in a heap on the stage.
| Jason D. Williams - live at City Stages |