Additional Details

Additional details

Been Together Since: 1987

Sounds Like: Jazz piano and vocals -- elegant/sophisticated/bluesy.

Members

Pamela York -- piano, vocals
Lynn Seaton -- bass
Sebastian Whittaker -- drums

MP3S

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I Hear Music

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East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)

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Mama's Midnight Hour

Audio Interview

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Track #1

Discography

Blue York, 2001
The Way of Time, 2006

More

• 29-95's favorite Houston albums of the decade, part three

Where To Buy

• Amazon.com
• CdBaby.com
• CDfreedom.com

Review

An audience might not know it to see her perform now, but Canadian-born jazz pianist Pamela York found her inspiration to perform at age 10, when a country-rock family band moved into her neighborhood.

Impressed by all of the musical equipment in their basement, and the sound of her own voice amplified, she sat in on piano during the band's country jam sessions at a local inn.

``It really got me playing by ear,'' York says. ``When you have to get up onstage and back some singer on a country tune you're not sure about, you really have to listen. It was a good experience for me.''

York, 37, has since studied piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston and the University of Tennessee, lived in San Diego for five years with her husband, then came to Houston in 2001, where she has settled in as a jazz-scene regular.

``My husband is a pastor. He was looking for somewhere where he could go and fit in with the congregation, but also somewhere I could go where there would be a music scene. Houston seemed to fit us both.''

Once here, York found the city's jazz scene to be inviting.

``I thought it would take me longer to know everyone, but everyone was really friendly and quick to recommend me for gigs. After a few months it seemed like I knew everybody. There's always an amount of competitiveness to an arts scene, but here there's a willingness to help people get their name out.''

Talent also had something to do with getting York's name out. Just this year she was named a finalist at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz competition at the Kennedy Center and won the Great American Jazz Piano competition in Jacksonville, Fla., landing her a performance slot at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival alongside George Benson and Diane Schuur.

"That's what I care about. There was a cash prize, and it's very inspiring to hear what the other players are doing, but it means so much more to get to play at a festival of that size."

York's 2006 album, The Way of Time, came after the birth of her daughter, Anna, in 2003. The theme, of course, is time and the way her world has changed with age and motherhood.

"Once you're in your 30s as a musician you're not so concerned with playing a certain way or at a certain level; you're confident with who you are. Confident to edit out things that aren't really you. And becoming a mother is such an awesome responsibility and such a huge thing that a C major chord doesn't feel as important anymore. It's still important to me, but compared to giving life to another person and sustaining them, it kind of puts the rest of your career in perspective. I was able to gain a lot of confidence from that."

The lithe, elegant album of six originals and six standards - Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, April in Paris - was recorded in Houston with Texas musicians - guitarist Mike Wheeler, bassist Lynn Seaton and drummer Sebastian Whittaker.

"I wanted to record in Houston. I wanted to work with Texas musicians. When you're recording jazz, if you don't get it on the first or second take, it usually doesn't happen. The interaction between the musicians and parts is very important. I knew I could get that with this group of musicians."

Time's originals range from bossa nova cool on Counting the Stars to swanky blues on Mama's Midnight Hour to a showcase for York's sweet vocals on You've Changed. A gentle ballad for her daughter, All Too Soon (For Anna), is the disc's most heartfelt tune.

"I wanted to write something pretty and tender, but I also tried to incorporate the bass and drums as not just accompanists; I wanted more group interaction. There's a part where I play a melody and the bass answers. I just thought it worked musically. An audience member said to me after a performance that it sounds like the piano is the child and the bass is the parent, which is something I hadn't considered. I thought that was so neat."

-- Sara Cress | November 22, 2007