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The Journey Within by Bernie Williams
How does an All-Star New York Yankee center fielder make the transition - successfully - from the field to the recording studio? Baseball Almanac is pleased to let Bernie Williams explain it for us:
- "My first experience with music was listening to my dad playing the guitar. He brought a guitar from Spain - he was a merchant marine - and he used to play it. My dad was self-taught and it would be in the middle of the night and I would hear this note sounding throughout the whole house. Sometimes I would wake up and listen and go ask him, "what is it that you are playing and how can I learn.'
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- When I became eight years old, it became a passion. I began to take formal lessons with a neighborhood music teacher and when I was in ninth grade, I went to a music high school. That's where I got all the music technique and an introduction to classical music.
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- After that, I started to play baseball. Oddly enough, I figured I was going to be a musician and that was going to be my profession, but like they say, the best baseball gig came along and I just ran with it. But I never stopped playing the guitar. I always took my guitar on the road with me and I started listening to a lot of jazz, rock, Latin music and with my classical background, I started to incorporate all those influences and started creating different ideas. One thing led to another and I was able to crystallize those ideas into a CD."
So there you have it. A legend on the field and a classically trained professional musician with a compact disc that reflects his honesty, his passion and love for music, his creativity, and his amazing talent.Â
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"While attending my first Yankee game, which also happened to be my first live baseball game ever, I was told that one of the team - Bernie (Williams - was an excellent guitar player and composer. I was intrigued to hear his music, so when I heard this CD I was blown away by his talent." - Paul McCartney
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| Description by The Verve Music Group © 2003 |
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Without question, New York Yankees superstar Bernie Williams is one of the most popular and talented players in major league baseball, a potential hall-of-famer, and one of the most popular and well known athletes in pro sports. But ask Bernie Williams what he wanted to be when growing up, and he’ll say it was to be a professional musician. A classically trained guitarist, playing and composing music is Bernie’s first true passion with influences that include jazz, classical, pop, Brazilian, and Latin sounds.
His major label debut, The Journey Within reflects his lifelong passion for music and encompasses his rich and varied musical palette. In addition to playing lead and rhythm guitar, Williams composed seven songs for the album. Tracks like “La Salsa En Mi” and “Desvelado” mix Bernie’s love of jazz with the sophisticated Latin rhythms of his Puerto Rican heritage.
The first single, a remix of his “Just Because” featuring David Benoit, is poised to be a hit at smooth jazz radio while covers of Kansas and Billy Joel demonstrate Williams’ ability to freshly reinterpret classic pop ballads. Other highlights include Williams’ heartfelt tribute to his father, “Para Don Berna”, a reworking of the Baden Powell song, “Samba Novo”, and “La Salsa En Mi”, featuring background vocals from 2003 Grammy Winner Ruben Blades and salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa. Also joining Williams is an all-star ensemble of musicians including multiple Grammy-winning banjo player Belo Fleck, keyboardist David Sancious, percussionist Luis Conte, bassist Leland Sklar, guitarist Tim Pierce, and drummers Kenny Aronoff and Shawn Pelton, among others.
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"When I heard this CD, I was blown away by his talent. Go Bernie, it's a home run!" - Paul McCartney
"Don't buy this disc just for the novelty of it - buy this disc because it contains truly wonderful musical performances." - Daniel R. Martin on Amazon
"I especially liked the cover of Dust in the Wind." - Musician Chris Martindale
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The Journey Within by Bernie Williams
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The opening track La Salsa in Mi is, "a tribute to my home town," Bernie Williams said. "I grew up listening to salsa, that's the main rhythm we have. With all the musical influences I have, I wanted to make that tune more of a celebration or tribute to the way I see salsa. The title means 'The Salsa in Me,' but it can also be interpreted as 'The Salsa in E' — the song is in the key of E, and it's like do-re-mi, the musical note."
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What inspires a potential Hall of Famer with four World Series rings, four Gold Glove Awards, and two Major League Baseball Player of the Month Awards? "Almost all the songs on the CDare from my experiences, things with my wife, my son and my father, things like that," Williams said. "I think it's a very powerful form for me to express my feelings, more than I could express by words. Everyone that knows me knows I don't really talk that much."
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