| Jazz |
A Bold and Intimate New Album from Pianist and Vocalist Dawn Clement, Releasing on Bastille Day.
There are artists who quietly chart their course through the contemporary jazz landscape, and then there are those, like pianist, vocalist, and composer Dawn Clement, who illuminate it. For more than two decades, Clement has been crafting a distinctive voice, intellectually sharp, emotionally resonant, and rhythmically enthralling. Her latest album, Delight, set for release on July 14, the French national holiday, is a masterclass in nuance and originality. It’s an album that doesn’t seek to please everyone, nor does it need to. This is music for those who crave depth over ease, intricacy over accessibility.
With Delight, Clement steps into the spotlight in an acoustic trio setting, a format familiar to jazz listeners, piano, bass, and drums, but here reimagined with her voice at the center, offering a surprising twist on a classic structure. She is joined by two towering figures of the genre: the legendary bassist Buster Williams, whose résumé spans decades and includes collaborations with Herbie Hancock and Nancy Wilson, and the ever-inventive drummer Matt Wilson, known for his unpredictable creativity and playful energy. Together, the three form an intergenerational ensemble that brims with vitality and purpose, delivering an album that is both restrained and radiant.
Although the album contains only three original compositions by Clement, the remaining selections, pieces by Thelonious Monk, Elvis Costello, Julian Priester, and others—are so radically reimagined they feel new. These are not mere covers but reinterpretations, built upon Clement’s singular approach to arrangement and structure. Every note, every pause, reflects a compositional mind attuned to the poetry of music, its ebb and flow, its capacity to surprise, to haunt, and to heal.
This isn’t music that drapes itself in overt complexity, but neither does it pander. It’s radical in the way it speaks softly, insisting on close listening. “In all of jazz, there are very few truly singular voices, regardless of the instrument,” remarks legendary trombonist Julian Priester, a longtime collaborator. “But Dawn has created a voice that is uniquely her own.” Delight is yet another chapter in that evolving story, a statement of artistic identity that feels both intimate and vast.
DownBeat Magazine recently praised Clement’s playing with the observation: “The revelation is Dawn Clement’s piano, always ready with the lyricism or structure the moment needs.” That duality, of being at once lyrical and structural, spontaneous and grounded, has long defined Clement’s artistry. Across six albums as a leader, she has explored the full spectrum of creative music: from traditional jazz trio formats to avant-garde improvisation, expressive songwriting, and indie-inflected vocal work. Her compositions resist categorization, drawing equally from classical discipline, improvisational daring, and personal introspection.
If Delight is your first encounter with Clement, it serves as an ideal entry point. There is a quiet intimacy to the recording, a sense that these musicians are less concerned with dazzling their audience than with inviting them into a shared space of emotion and memory. The music seems to tap into a kind of collective unconscious, where melodies evoke not just sound but color, scent, and feeling. Is this an album of personal reflection, or a canvas upon which the listener might project their own stories? Perhaps both.
To understand the breadth of Clement’s vision, one might also revisit her 2021 album Tandem, a remarkable collection of duets that highlights her skill in conversational interplay. Like Delight, it demonstrates her gift for connection, between musicians, between traditions, between listener and performer.
Ultimately, Delight does not seek the spotlight. It doesn’t shout. It lingers, it breathes, and in doing so, it leaves a lasting impression. In a world saturated with noise, Clement offers something quieter but far more enduring: music that feels like memory, like dream, like joy rediscovered.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 9th 2025
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Musicians :
Dawn Clement – piano, voice
Buster Williams – bass
Matt Wilson – drums
Tracklisting:
1 Outstretch 3:10
2 Monk’s Dream 5:56
3 Someone Took the Words Away 4:07
4 Tokudo 4:21
5 Easy E 7:07
6 You Taught My Heart to Sing 4:32
7 Elmer’s Holiday 3:58
8 Alone Together 6:37
9 Forgive Me 4:33
Composed by: (1,5,9) Clement; (2) Monk; (3) Costello; (4) Williams; (6) Tyner & Cahn; (7) Priester; (8) Schwartz & Dietz
Produced by Dawn Clement
Recorded & mixed by Matt Balitsaris at Maggie’s Farm, Pipersville, PA
Recorded on May 28, 2024
Mastered by Colin Bricker at Mighty Fine Productions, Denver, CO
Photographs by Aleksandr Lee assisted by Yan Savin
Cover design & layout by John Bishop