Witkowski was the 2002 Great American Jazz Piano Competition winner. She has since released six highly acclaimed albums, each one revealing a constantly evolving sensibility that is marked by melodyc invention and emotional connection. She has toured extensively with Lizz Wright, a soul-streep singer, and was the pianist for the Jim McNeely-led BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra for ten years. As a leader, her projects include fellow heavyweights John Patitucci (bass) and Donny McCaslin (saxophonist). Witkowski speaks eloquently of the primal and transporting power that group singing has on Makes the Heart to Sing. Her trio brings a similar collective spirit to the music. Scott Latzky is her drummer. She moved to New York City with a full-time job in church music direction. Daniel Foose, a bassist, has been a collaborator since the beginning. She says that Scott was there from the beginning. His playing is sensitive and adaptable to all environments. Daniel has been our friend for three years and his playing is so sensitive and responsive to every environment. Most tracks are less than four minutes long and emphasize the group’s swinging interpretations, rather than using them as launch pads for lengthy solos. The album opens with “Cwm Rhonda (Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah),” which is a beautiful, mid-tempo Welsh song. It feels almost like it could be a romantic declaration from a 1940s Broadway musical. “There Is a Balm In Gilead” shimmers like a languid Bill Evans ballad, while “Holy, Holy, Holy”, rises with the splendour of an Ellingtonian tune. “We Three Kings” is delivered by the trio with such swinging authority that it seems almost inevitable that it will be used as a jazz vehicle. “How Firm a Foundation”, on the other hand, unfolds with the rolling rhythms of a gospel hit. Witkowski also finds the perfect groove for Beethoven’s iconic “Joyful, Joyful, I Adore Thee” tune from the Ninth Symphony. Some tunes are not suitable for vocals. Witkowski has many stunning solo improvisations. Witkowski offers several stunning solo improvisations, including two very different takes on “St. Jazz musicians have explored many avenues to bring jazz into worship settings since Mary Lou Williams’ 1962 premiere of St. Martin de Porres (Black Chris Of the Andes), at St. Francis Xavier Church, Manhattan. Witkowski’s ability to set traditional hymns in jazz contexts is unique. Her ability to gracefully bring together seemingly disparate elements is what gives her her creative identity. Makes the Heart to sing comes directly out of her extensive work in sacred settings. She says that music in many churches is just one thing: traditional hymns performed in a traditional manner or contemporary pop written for group singing. “But there’s this ‘folk music tradition’–hymns–that everybody knows in most Protestant churches. When I arrange service music, I always draw from my jazz background, and hymns are an essential part of the repertoire.” Deanna Witkowski was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 20, 1972. Her family moved to Rochester, New York by high school. Her parents were both musicians, as were her three younger siblings. Witkowski was an avid player of the electric Organaire at home. Her kindergarten teacher noticed her talent for playing the piano and suggested to Witkowski that her mother start lessons. Witkowski studied violin for one year before taking flute and piano lessons in fourth grade. She continued to study both instruments through high school. Witkowski was a Wheaton College piano major. She began studying the alto saxophone with Larry Panella, now the director of the University of Southern Mississippi’s jazz department. She was so serious that she attended a six-week course at the Eastman School of Music with Bill Dobbins, her first summer home. She met Brad Williams on campus and was introduced to Erroll Garner and Bill Evans. Witkowski also started composing seriously at Wheaton. Although she took several composition classes, Witkowski found that there were not many jazz combo options. She began commuting to Benedictine University nearby to play. Soon Witkowski was creating original arrangements and tunes for her trio. In 1993, Witkowski graduated from college and moved to Chicago to continue playing at jam sessions. She recalls, “That’s how i learned a lot tunes.” “I used to just go to these sessions and I would write down the name of any tune that I didn’t know and then go learn it.” After moving to New York City, she began a master’s degree in jazz studies at DePaul. There was plenty to do in Chicago. She began writing liturgical settings and got a gig with a Brazilian singer. Then she was invited to join a salsa band. Her own band, Odd Fish Quintet, was also formed. Every situation gave her numerous opportunities to grow as an arranger/composer. After playing together at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Russell Malone, Witkowski was encouraged to move to New York City. She studied piano with Hilario Duran, a Cuban pianist, in Toronto in 1996. All Angels Church in Manhattan hired Witkowski as their music director the following year. Witkowski recorded her debut album as a leader in 1999’s “Having to Ask” on her Tilapia Records record. This album earned her praises from Jazz Journal International as “one the best of the new generation jazz pianists.” The album, which is a pleasingly fluent document of her Chicago-based band, also features jazz, Brazilian and AfroCuban influences. 2003’s Wide Open Window (Khaeon World Music) was her next album. This session featured a highly accomplished quartet that alternated originals with standard tunes, mainly by Cole Porter. Many of her compositions were inspired by her collaborations with Donny McCaslin, a powerful tenor saxophonist. Witkowski’s 2005 album Length of days (ArtistShare), confirmed her status among jazz’s most elite musicians. The quartet session features eight originals and a captivating arrangement of the Ellington song “I’m Beginning to See the Light”. Witkowski’s piano and vocals are paired with McCaslin’s soprano and tenor saxophones. The rhythmic support provided by Vince Cherico and Dave Ambrosio, the bassist, is exceptional. Her fourth album, 2009’s From This Place, was released by Tila Records. She set jazz-streeped sacred texts and ancient texts to music, exploring a variety of formats, from an instrumental quartet to a three-part women’s a cappella. Raindrop: Improvisations With Chopin (Tilapia), 2015’s stunning solo piano session, seamlessly combines jazz and Chopin with the music from Brazil. Witkowski’s Makes the Heart to sing taps into another tradition. Witkowski uses jazz to bring new life to the communal experience that is worship. It doesn’t matter what faith you have, it is easy to see the power of singing together. Witkowski points to the charismatic choral composer Abbie Bettinis’s thinking, which helped to launch the Justice Choir Songbook, providing demonstrators with more material than “We Shall Overcome.” (Witkowski’s song, “We Walk in Love”, is one of the 43 songs in this book, selected from a nationwide call for scores. Witkowski said that Abbie talked about how singing with others can give the feeling of being a support system. “I realize that other people are struggling with the same things as I am. Witkowski is a visionary artist because she connects jazz with other deep musical currents. She’s inviting everyone into the water with Makes the Heart to Sing. * from https://deannawitkowski.com
