Ben Williams News

This week marks the first week of the 2020 Prelude Festival: Sites of Revolution, which runs until October 30.

The 2020 Prelude Festival, titled Sites of Revolution, will bring together artists, critics, activists, and producers from New York City and beyond to explore the many ways in which revolutions are taking place today. 

Plosive Productions has announced the second raft of live streams to their first ever online podcast festival, Unmute. The Froth with Rhod Gilbert, Sian Harries & Friends, Black Gals Livin' and The Bugle have been added to the stellar line-up, the festival will take place from 20th - 24th October.

Jesse Palter returns with her new single, “BETTER DAYS,” which explores the magic of artistic collaboration that can occur and bind the creative despite the limitations of time and distance.

Plosive Productions have announced the initial line-up for their first ever online podcast festival, Unmute. The festival will take place from 20th - 24th October and will be streamed live from the Unmute Podcast Festival official website.

After the August 8premiere of The Central Park Conservancy and Jazzmobile Presents Great Jazz on the Great Hill, JazzmobileSUMMERFESThas taken to the 'airwaves' demonstrating that New York City's longest-running jazz festival is going strong!

The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) has announced the full roster of performers for The 16th Annual DC JazzFest. This year's festival will be streamed live from our Nation's Capital from September 24th through 28th as we take our world-class jazz programming to the global stage for the very first time.

The Play Company today shared the series of Mini-Commissions they initiated in April, offering audiences digital access to exciting new works by artists creatively navigating the constraints of our times.

The Play Company has announced #Playfrom6FeetAway Spring 2020 programming, a series of experimental new works and stimulating conversations that can be experienced together, even as we hunker down and shelter in place.

HERE will welcome Bengali theater-maker Shayok Misha Chowdhury, playwright and director Normandy Sherwood, and instrumentalist gamin and sound & visual composer Sachiyo Takahashi as new members of the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP).

The Chloé and Maud Foundation presented the 1st Global Online Tap Festival on Monday, March 30th after quickly adjusting their plans in the wake of worldwide COVID-19 cancellations and quarantine.

Today Sadler's Wells announces that it will present new dance content for Digital Stage, its free online performance platform, in response to the cancellation of shows across its theatres as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.' Thus famously begins both F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby' and its stage incarnation 'Gatz' in the Elevator Repair Service (ERS) production currently running at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Wait, you mean Fitzgerald was addressing the notion of privilege way back in 1925? Yes, indeedy! In fact, so much of his novel resonates so deeply with our current state that it's a perfect time to revisit this classic. Which is exactly and literally what ERS is doing here. The text of 'Gatz' consists of every word in the novel and nothing more. So, yes, that means you're in for roughly six hours (plus 2 intermissions and a welcome dinner break) of Fitzgeraldian theatrical experience. If those last two sentences intrigue you at all, I highly recommend you take the ride.

Following their New York Times Critic's Pick production of Dr. Ride's American Beach House, playwright Liza Birkenmeier and director Katie Brook are set to premiere their next collaboration, ISLANDER, as part of Next Door at NYTW. ISLANDER repurposes verbatim NHL commentary from the abysmal 2017-2018 New York Islanders season into a sharp comedy about white male fragility, expressiveness, and shame. Previews begin at the Fourth Street Theatre (83 East 4th St, Manhattan) on March 27, 2020, with an opening set for April 1, for a limited run through April 11, 2020. Tickets are on sale now at nytw.org.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, acclaimed Grammy-winning bassist, composer and bandleader Ben Williams today shared his powerful rendition of the civil rights classic 'We Shall Overcome” via Billboard. With Frank Ocean-esque R&B production and a world class band, the track is a unifying call of the moment that grounds us in history, present, and a continuously hopeful future. It follows first soulful single “If You Hear Me” from his upcoming album I AM A MAN, out February 7, 2020 on Rainbow Blonde Records, a record label co-owned by singer, songwriter and kindred spirit José James. The title is a reference to picket signs held during Memphis' historic 1968 African American sanitation workers' strike and is Williams' most poignant, sociopolitical statement yet. 

LA-based independent record label and multidisciplinary collective Rainbow Blonde has announced a showcase as part of NYC's Winter Jazzfest at Rough Trade on January 17. The show is a collaborative event to showcase the full roster of Rainbow Blonde Records, plus many treasured community members, featuring performances by Grammy Award winner Ben Williams (whose upcoming album I AM A MAN drops February 7), Taali, Aneesa Strings, Keyon Harrold, J. Hoard, and José James. Of the event, Rainbow Blonde co-founder Talia Billig stated ”This stage is the largest and proudest example of this movement to date, live and in the moment.”

Maurice 'Mobetta' Brown brings his Birthday Vibes Sessions to Blue Note New York for a three-night exclusive event from January 6 - 8, 2020 featuring special guests Anderson .Paak on January 6, and Talib Kweli on January 7. Paak is no stranger to Blue Note having appeared on stage as a surprise guest during Robert Glasper's Residency at the Blue Note. The Mobetta Birthday Vibes Sessions also include an all-star band of musicians such as Isaiah Sharkey, Ben Williams, James Francies, and Mike Mitchell.

Back with his beguiling mix of jazz, R&B, pop and soul, singer-songwriter and producer José James today announces a brand new future soul album, No Beginning No End 2. Coming out March 6 on his own label Rainbow Blonde Records, he's just shared smooth first single “I Need Your Love,” featuring GRAMMY nominees Ledisi & Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. Also featuring Laura Mvula, Aloe Blacc, Lizz Wright, Erik Truffaz, Hindi Zahra, Taali and more, this new album is a sequel to James' revered No Beginning No End. He'll be celebrating the release with a freshly announced international tour, including stops in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC and his hometown of Minneapolis, MN.

Singer and Songwriter Emmaline has released her gorgeous new video for the track “Effortless” today. Directed by Simion Collins & Omari Matlock, the videos lush colors and dreamy settings beautifully compliment Emmaline's stellar voice and style. The song appears on her debut EP, All My Sweetest Dreams, out now. Watch and share “Effortless” below.

HERE has announced that applications for the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) are currently open. This multi-year, $100,000 residency program was created in 1999 and serves as a national model. HARP provides commission funds, development support, career planning, fiscal sponsorship, and a full production to recipients, all within a collaborative environment of peers working across artistic disciplines including theatre, dance, music, puppetry, visual art, and new media. HARP provides significant long-term support, as well as up to $50,000 in cash and more than $50,000 in space, equipment, and services over two to three years. Each residency is tailored to the needs of the artist.