William Woods - The Hear And Now (2006)

Given that he is the son of professional violinist Lee Kanter, it’s not surprising that Woods, who was born in Englewood, New Jersey, started out on strings. However at the age of nine he discovered a much greater affinity for piano and developed a passion for both improvisation and composition. A tragic side note to his musical development was written when, as a student of New York City composer and musicologist, Ernest Lubin, he arrived one day for class to find that his instructor had been murdered. He was able to move on from this horror and pursued his studies at Juilliard where he first performed some of his original works.

Woods graduated from Princeton and from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He works as a radiation oncologist treating cancer patients and, over the years, has found a satisfying balance between the rigorous schedule of a physician and the process of jazz composition and recording.

His music has been likened to ‘an edgy brand of adult contemporary jazz that exists somewhere between a hip Boney James and a cerebral David Benoit’ but this summation completely misses the point of where William Woods is at. Certainly there is some Benoit in there and at times a little Culbertson too but what Woods brings to the party is smooth jazz for grown ups and as such is far closer to Bob James or the sound of Fourplay.