Coming Of Age Ben Williams

• 1 Black Villain Music 04:29
• 2 Strength And Beauty 05:28
• 3 Half Steppin' 07:23
• 4 Voice Of Freedom (For Mandela) 04:47
• 5 Toy Soldiers 08:08
• 6 Lost & Found 06:21
• 7 Forecast 08:15
• 8 The Color Of My Dreams 08:07
• 9 Smells Like Teen Spirit 03:21
• 10 Toy Soldiers 02:44
• 11 Coming Of Age 07:53
• Total Runtime 01:06:56

Info for Coming Of Age

Call it a generous fluency, an affable virtuosity. Call it a true band spirit. The best bands have all had something that can't be forced: A refined mastery of music and a willingness to converse through music. That's what you hear, above all, on bassist Ben Williams' sophomore recording, Coming of Age: The sound of a musician who's cultivated an authentic rapport with some of the best young players in New York City.

'We have these group texts that we send to each other all the time,” Williams says of his band, Sound Effect. “We're just as entertaining to each other off stage as on. If there were ever a reality show about jazz, we'd be good candidates for it!”

Coming of Age for the 30-year-old Williams means playing a lively role among his peers and a vital part in the music world at large. After winning the prestigious Monk Institute Competition in 2009, Williams got busy turning his youthful promise into real achievement. “My career as a bandleader and composer started from the moment I won,” he says. “I had this opportunity to say something—and an obligation, too.” In 2011 Williams delivered a debut album, State Of Art, to great critical acclaim and toured widely as a bandleader with Sound Effect. He became a sought after and beloved sideman, playing so many sets at one year's Winter Jazzfest that he rarely left the stage. Most impressively, he assumed a highly-coveted place in guitarist Pat Metheny's Unity Band. “Ben has a fearless and open-minded approach to what music can be,” Metheny has said. “A wonderful combination of skills.”

For all his strides in bandleading and performing, on the track Coming of Age Williams shows his greatest growth as a composer. 'Composing seems like a nebulous thing,' he says. 'But the ability to translate a feeling into actual music, takes a lot of doing it, a lot of practice. Which chord is going to invoke this feeling? What's the best key for this idea?' And Williams has some big ideas and feelings to convey, necessitating heavy skill in musical translation and storytelling. On 'Toy Soldiers,' for example, a martial rhythm and chantlike riff send a message about the sacrifices of war. He wrote the uplifting 'Strength And Beauty' on the day of the 2012 Newtown school shooting.

'The tragic news hit me hard, and this tune came to me as a way of feeling my way through the tragedy. The title was inspired later, when I saw how [jazz saxophonist] Jimmy Greene and his family responded to losing their daughter at Newtown. Their pain is something most of us can't even imagine, but the way Jimmy held it together and became a beacon of light and true strength was an inspiration to everyone.'

Ben Williams, bass, sound effects
Additional musicians:
Goapele, vocals (Voice of Freedom - for Mandela)
Christian Scott, trumpet
Stefon Harris, vibraphone
W. Ellington Felton, emcee

Benjamin James Williams
is a native of Washington, DC. He also performs on electric bass and piano as well. His musical influence is rooted in various genres of music including jazz, hip-hop, R&B, gospel, and classical. Ben is a recent graduate of the Michigan State University School of Music where he majored in Music Education with an emphasis in Jazz, studying with Rodney Whitaker and Jack Budrow. He plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School.

Ben has won several competitions and scholarship awards. He is a two-time winner of the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship Competition at the East Coast Jazz Festival; a two-time winner of the DC Public School Piano Competition; a 2002 recipient of the Duke Ellington Society Annual Scholarship Award. Most recently, Ben won first place in the 2005 International Society of Bassists (ISB) competition in the category of jazz.

Ben has performed both nationally and internationally with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Mulgrew Miller, Cyrus Chestnut, Ron Blake, Stefon Harris, Karreim Riggins, Hamiett Bluiette, James Williams, Bobby Watson, Winard Harper, Buster Williams, John Hicks, Anthony Wonsey, Me’Shelle N’degeocello, Gene Lake, Wycliffe Gordon, and Delfeayo Marsalis to name a few. He has also performed with opening acts for artists such as John Legend, Kirk Franklin, and Eric Roberson...

Booklet for Coming Of Age