Ben Williams - State of Art (2011)

Ben Williams' debut album State of Art is a result of Williams' first prize in the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Competition for double-bass. State of Art marks Williams' first album as a leader, however it is not the bassist's first time working with the Concord Jazz family. For the past two years, Williams has been a working member of two Concord Jazz artists' working bands: vibraphonist Stefon Harris & Blackout, a R&B and hip-hop-tinged group, which calls on Williams' unique connection with go-go, from his native Washington, DC to inform its sound and pianist Jacky Terrasson's Trio. Williams was featured on Harris' 2009 Concord Jazz debut, Urbanus and Terrasson's 2010 Concord Jazz debut, Push.

The title of Williams' debut stops modestly short of such a bold argument, but does sum up the young bassist's of-the-moment approach. "I'm trying to interpret the times," Williams says, "to represent what's going on today." To that end, State of Art is a wholly contemporary amalgam of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and even classical influences which fully acknowledge the past while maintaining an urgency born of the here and now. The variety of flavors that comprise this musical stew, Williams explains, are drawn from his full 26 years of experience - with perhaps an extra nine months besides.

"I always feel like you start your musical training maybe even before you're born," he says. "Consciously or subconsciously you soak in all the music you hear around you, so when you do get to the point where you're expressing your own music that stuff is all mixed in there whether you like it or not. So I just try to be honest and represent all that influence."

The band Williams assembled for State of Art is a first-time assemblage of his peers, most of whom he's played with in a variety of different configurations. At its core, the band consists of tenor/soprano saxophonist Marcus Strickland, guitarist Matthew Stevens, keyboardist Gerald Clayton, drummer Jamire Williams (who also appeared with the bassist on Terrasson's Push) and percussionist Etienne Charles, joined on three tracks by alto/soprano saxophonist Jaleel Shaw. Williams mixes a string quartet into his arrangements of Jackson's "Little Susie" and Bay Area soul singer Goapele's tender, yearning "Things Don't Exist."

Tracklist:

01. Home (Williams)
02. Moontrane (Shaw)
03. The Lee Morgan Story (Robinson)
04. Dawn of a New Day (Williams)
05. Little Susie (Intro) (Williams)
06. Little Susie (Jackson)
07. November (Williams)
08. Part-Time Lover (Wonder)
09. Things Don't Exist (Bhasker, Goapele)
10. Mr. Dynamite (Williams)
11. Moonlight in Vermont (Blackburn, Suessdorf)

Ben Williams - bass;
Gerald Clayton - piano, Fender Rhodes piano;
Jamire Williams - drums;
Marcus Strickland - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone;
Etienne Charles - percussion;
Matthew Stevens - guitar;
Christian Scott - trumpet;
John Robinson - emcee, vocals