Jeong Lim Yang

Her first release as a leader, 2017’s Déjà Vu, was recognized by NPR Music as the “best debut album of the year,” and its follow-up, Zodiac Suite: Reassured, is an adventurous re-imagining of Williams’ 12-part suite with a movement dedicated to each sign of the zodiac featuring pianist Santiago Leibson and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

Inspired by Duke Ellington’s landmark Black, Brown, and Beige, Williams began writing Zodiac Suite in 1942 for a chamber jazz group and composed each movement inspired by jazz artists born under each sign. It was later adapted for 70-piece orchestra at the request of legendary promoter Norman Granz and was performed at Carnegie Hall in 1946.

It is a testament to Williams’ genius that the work she premiered before the 20th century was half-over still sounds fresh and relevant today in the hands of Yang and her trio of exploratory instrumentalists.