Ben Williams at the 2nd annual San Diego Black Arts and Culture Music Festival
Grammy Award-winner Ben Williams has become one of the most in-demand bassists in the nation since winning first-place honors at the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition.
His skill and stylistic diversity are demonstrated by Williams鈥 constantly growing list of credits in jazz, R&B, hip-hop, neo-soul and beyond.
His collaborators include Herbie Hancock, Lauryn Hill, Pat Metheny, Maxwell, David Sanborn, Chaka Khan, Kamasi Washington, Pharrell Williams, George Benson, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper, Nicholas Payton, Jose James, Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles, rising Icelandic vocal star 脕sgeir and many more.
On Sunday, June 29, Williams and his band will headline the 2nd annual San Diego Black Arts and Culture Music Festival, which is expertly curated by Grammy Award-winning producer, keyboardist, saxophonist and UC San Diego music professor Kamau Kenyatta.
The free, family-friendly event will also feature spoken-word artist and rapper Miki Vale, soul singer Cornell 鈥淐.C.鈥 Carter, blues mainstay Lenny 鈥淔uzzy鈥 Rankin and dynamic soul, blues and gospel singer Daneen Wilburn.
Now based in Los Angeles, Williams is a Washington, D.C., native whose most recent concert here was last fall at La Jolla Athenaeum leading a band that featured young vibraphone sensation Sasha Berliner. His latest group includes some of the same musicians featured on his genre-fluid new album, 鈥淏etween Church & State,鈥 including the terrific drummer Jonathan Pinson.
The 11-song release features Williams on vocals and acoustic and electric basses. As its title suggests, 鈥淏etween Church & State,鈥 addresses maters of faith and politics. Williams approaches both a very personal point of view, including his fresh take on Marvin Gaye鈥檚 1971 classic, 鈥淚nner City Blues.鈥
On July 8, Williams will debut his new jazz, hip-hop and soul band, WhoAllGonBeThere. Last week saw him conclude his 鈥淒early Beloved: The Music of Prince Re-Imagined鈥 tour.
Whatever he plays in San Diego this weekend should be intriguing and then some.
Noon Sunday. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 6401 Skyline Drive, Encanto. Free. sdaamfa.org/blog-4/san-diego-black-arts-culture-district-music-festival-2025
Charles McPherson, with Javon Jackson
A longtime San Diego resident, jazz sax great Charles McPherson isn鈥檛 slowing down as his 86th birthday approaches in July.
After performing concerts in May across the East Coast, Midwest and Southeast, McPherson will celebrate his birthday a month early here with two weekend concerts before doing more gigs in New York and Baltimore.
His most recent album, last year鈥檚 live recording 鈥淩everence,鈥 has earned some of the most glowing reviews of his illustrious career. It reaffirms that when he is on stage, in front of a responsive audience, McPherson still shines brightest.
His pair of Saturday shows here should be doubly interesting since he鈥檒l be sharing the stage with tenor saxophone stalwart Javon Jackson, who is 25 years his junior. Jackson鈥檚 many credits include collaborations with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones and former San Diego trumpeter Brian Lynch. Hearing Jackson and McPherson trade solos and play unison lines promises to be memorable.
7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, June 28. Lou Lou鈥檚, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. $30. loulouscub.com
Victor Baker album release concert
Its is not a contradiction to say that Victor Baker鈥檚 guitar-playing is often overshadowed by his guitars.
That鈥檚 because this San Diego transplant 鈥 previously a resident of Philadelphia and New York 鈥 is best known as an instrument-maker whose one-of-a-kind archtop, solid body and semi-hollowbody guitars are prized by Peter Bernstein, Gilad Hekselman and the other jazz six-string greats who own and play them.
Baker has built nearly 750 custom-made guitars over the past 26 years. On June 30, he will downsize his guitar workshop and focus on building only a few top-of-the-line guitars each year going forward.
This shift will, one hopes, give him more time to make music.
Released May 21, his new album, 鈥淎s The Crow Flies,鈥 is an absorbing nine-song collection that spotlights his talents as an extremely tasteful guitarist, composer, arranger and bandleader.
His light touch, fluidity and elegant lyricism at times suggest Pat Metheny, but as a point of reference, not a final destination, and his supple playing is a consistent delight. If Baker鈥檚 album-release concert Friday night at The Jazz Lounge matches the quality of 鈥淎s The Crowe Flies,鈥 expect a truly memorable evening.
6:15 p.m. Friday, June 27.The Jazz Lounge, 6818 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. $65 (with dinner), $45 (without dinner). thejazzlounge.live