Photo credit: Janis Wilkins

Witkowski's playing is consistently thrilling, and her musical imagination seems boundless.
-Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

If, among contemporary pianists, Brad Mehldau and Bill Charlap represent the gold standard, then Deanna Witkowski deservedly ranks as their sterling sister.
-Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

Photos for press

 

Downloadable hi-res press photos for From This Place

Photo credit on all photos: Janis Wilkins

CD cover in color •• CD cover in black/white •• Cover photo (no text) 8x10 color •• Cover photo (no text) 8x10 black/white

 
New! PDF bundles of reviews/interviews for From This Place
(for individual weblinks to reviews and interviews, check out the left hand sidebar!)

From This Place music media coverage: download pdf
        •National Public Radio, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, Jazz Police, Soundstage, and more
From This Place religion media coverage: download pdf
        •National Catholic Reporter, Interfaith Voices, UrbanFaith, Busted Halo, and more

Selected quotes:

Witkowski has combined The Spirituality of the Soul and Heart with The Spirituality of Jazz. These performances are, above all, prayerful. They are also properly liturgical and and should be sung and played in churches.  Ms. Witkowski continues the work of Mary Lou Williams who was the first major jazz artist to compose for liturgical purposes.  This music is 'healing to the Soul'. -Rev. Peter F. O'Brien, SJ, Executive Director of The Mary Lou Williams Foundation, Inc

Improvisation, which is at the heart of jazz, provides a metaphor for the Creator's acts toward the creation and toward human creators. The worshiper (or, in the case of recordings, the listener) listens for wonder, playfulness, surprise, wit, and respect for tunes on which each improvisation is based. Those of us who have heard Deanna in church, home, club, studio, or auditorium, have found new reasons to improvise praise for such fresh sounds. 

-Martin E. Marty, theologian
University of Chicago

 

Witkowski is a wonderfully gifted pianist with a strong sense of beauty and harmony, but I was unprepared for how natural and affecting her voice is. Her technical skills as a singer nearly match her keyboard prowess, but in both cases, what shemost powerfully conveys is emotional truth.

-Joseph Taylor, SoundStageAV.com 

Following the hallowed path of Mary Lou Williams, pianist and vocalist Deanna Witkowski devotes her fourth album exclusively to the blending of jazz and liturgy, drawing on scripture, the Mass, 19th-century poetry and original verses to build this expansive house of musical worship. Four notes into saxophonist Donny McCaslin's bluesy intro to "Let My Prayer Rise" it becomes evident how invigorating this marriage of secular and spiritual will be. With the slightly scorched purity of Witkowski's vocals (and the angelic virtuosity of her playing) as the central pillar, McCaslin, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Scott Latzky circle like impish altar boys, never irreverent yet eager to splash her white lace with vibrant daubs.

-Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

Witkowski is solid as a modern vocalist but exquisite as pianist and composer, in any context.

-Andrea Canter, JazzPolice.com 

Witkowski's originals on From This Place are some of the most interesting selections here. The song "From This Place" builds beautifully and is a definite high point on the disc. "Never Before" is Witkowski's recounting of the angels telling St. Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus. While not at all jazz, it is the most striking moment on the CD. An a cappella piece in three-part harmony, it's stop what you're doing gorgeous.

-Paul Abella, ChicagoJazz.com

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for listeners who understand that jazz can be a place where the spirit wants to join you! -Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation

 

Reviews for previous releases

Length of Days full press reviews: download pdf

 

Wide Open Window full press reviews: download pdf

Having to Ask full press reviews: download pdf

 

Selected press quotes:

Witkowski's playing is consistently thrilling, and her musical imagination seems boundless.
-Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

If, among contemporary pianists, Brad Mehldau and Bill Charlap represent the gold standard, then Deanna Witkowski deservedly ranks as their sterling sister.
-Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

Vision and depth with every phrase, chord change and tempo variance make her music universally appealing. Witkowski is the real thing.
�Michael G. Nastos/WEMU, Cadence

One of the best of the new generation of jazz piano players. -Bruce Crowther, Jazz Journal International

Witkowski's voice and McCaslin's soprano saxophone sound as if they were created to play together, a magical blend in harmony.
-Don McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Witkowski is not far from jazz stardom with her keyboard techniques, her imaginative composing and arranging, and her wordless vocalizing. Remember her name.
-Harvey Siders, JazzTimes

**** rating [for Length of Days]...Witkowski's sheer musicality is abundantly evident, from a well-developed sense of line and harmony in composition, to the airily individual takes on standards like "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo," "In the Still of the Night" and "I'm Beginning to See the Light."
-Ray Comiskey, Irish Times

Witkowski's unique combination of skills: her talent, commitment and clarity of vision, leave many other contemporary jazz artists in the dust. She's an original!
-Don Glasgo, Dartmouth College

Wide Open Window will refuse to allow you to file it away and forget about. It's too different and too vital. Bravo, Ms. Witkowski.
-Ken Egbert, Jazz Now

Witkowski copped first place in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and this release [Wide Open Window] shows why.
-Len Dobbin, Montreal Mirror

A vibrant young pianist with a clear musical vision.
-Chuy Varela, JazzTimes

Witkowski focuses on the distinct expressivity of instrumental music and on the balance of emotion and intellect unique to unadulterated jazz.
-Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader

Exceptional taste and imagination, considerable harmonic resourcefulness, and the rare ability to shed striking new light on familiar material.
-Terry Teachout, critic for The New York Times

 
Selected musician quotes: 

 

Deanna with Guinga, California Brazil Camp 2004

"Piano profundo, sentido, solit�rio. Deanna toca como quem escreve uma carta para algu�m que n�o existe. Seu piano anuncia todos os outonos."
-Guinga

Translation: Profound, full of feeling, solitary piano. Deanna plays as if she were writing a letter to someone who does not exist. Her piano announces all the autumns yet to come.
-Guinga, renowned Brazilian guitarist/composer/vocalist 

A distinctive pianist and composer who plays with imagination, sensitivity, and fire.
-Fred Hersch

An extraordinary talent whose music speaks articulately with elegance, honesty and beauty.
-Maria Schneider

 

More reviews

Jacksonville Times-Union (on 2002 Great American Jazz Piano Competition win)

All About Jazz (2005 review of tenor saxophonist James Finn's Great Spirit, with Deanna on piano, Leon Lee Dorsey on bass, and Klaus Kugel on drums)

Dusted Magazine (another review of Great Spirit)