DISCOGRAPHY
To Be Released
January 16, 2026
JORDAN WILLIAMS
"Playing by ear is how I learned to listen - not just to music but to life. You start to realize that silence, memory and mistake all play a role in what comes next."
"Pianist Jordan Williams makes a compelling entrance as a bandleader with Playing by Ear, his debut for the legendary Milan-based Red Records. Arriving January 16, 2026, the album blends intuition, memory and formal precision, brought to life by an exceptional quartet featuring Jeff “Tain” Watts
on drums, Nat Reeves on bass, and Wallace Roney Jr. on trumpet. " ...
"That early ear remains the grounding force in a sound shaped by the lyricism of Herbie Hancock and the grounded swing of Mulgrew Miller, all filtered through Williams’ distinctly modern phrasing. He favors space, story, and intention over flash, creating a voice rooted in tradition yet unmistakably his own."
- Jazz Chill Blogspot
​"There is something surprisingly natural, almost necessary, about the way Jordan Williams presents himself to the world with this debut album. The title Playing by Ear is much more than an aesthetic statement: it is a stance on spontaneity, deep listening, and reliance on emotion even before structures. Jordan, born in 1996, has made his mark in recent years as one of the East Coast scene’s most promising young pianists, with an approach that combines the lyrical fluidity of Herbie Hancock with the rhythmic architecture of Mulgrew Miller, but filtered through a contemporary ear."
RED RECORDS
A child of Philadelphia's jazz lineage, Williams began picking out standards by ear at six, long before he could name the chords. Those early instincts have stayed with him, guiding a sound that blends the searching lyricism of Herbie Hancock with the grounded swing of Mulgrew Miller, yet filtered through his own sense of touch and timing with distinctly modern phrasing that values space and story as much as speed and precision."
The Urban Music Scene