Sherry Williams and her honey voice will be heard again in Idyllwild next week. Keith Droste and his quartet join her Thursday, July 25, as the next performers at the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series staged at the Idyllwild Community Center site.
Williams is not a newcomer to the Idyllwild music scene. She performed at the 2012 Idyllwild Summer Concert Series, has frequently sung at Jazz in the Pines, and been part of the Idyllwild Master Chorale’s Winter Fusion concerts and the Aroma Spring Jazz series.
“I love it there,” she said. “It’s like coming home. I love it up there and the people are so warm.”
Williams confessed that her visits to Idyllwild began long before her performances. Her father introduced her to the little town with all the music when she was a youth living in San Bernardino.
“Music has always been part of my life,” Williams said. As with many professionals, it began at home with her parents playing the piano and jazz records.
But she has been a professional singer almost since high school. While at UCLA, she began having so many performances that it became full-time. After more than 40 years of performing around the world, she said, having just returned from Germany, “I can’t imagine anything else.”
Thursday’s performance will be a combination of familiar and new pieces. It takes effort and intention to listen to jazz. “It’s not a passive activity if you really like it,” she said.
So the good performers introduce the audience to their style with familiar sounds. “... and then people learn your style, then you earn the right to do original work,” she said, “but not too many originals.”
Williams and the Droste Quartet will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 25 at the Idyllwild Community Center site.
