PRODUCER
DEARLY BELOVED
The Music of Prince Reimagined
Prince was a wildly prolific songwriter, a virtuoso on guitars, keyboards and drums and a master architect of funk, rock, R&B and pop, even as his music defied genres. He was acclaimed as a sex symbol, a musical prodigy, an electrifying performer, a brilliant bandleader and an artist who shaped his career his way, often battling with accepted music-business practices.
Assembling a stellar cast of stars in the worlds of R&B, funk, soul, jazz and classical, GRAMMY®-winning bassist Ben Williams pays tribute to the musical legacy of Prince. Drawing inspiration from his iconic discography, DEARLY BELOVED–The Music of Prince Reimagined features new arrangements, visuals and narrative that celebrate Prince’s virtuosity, diversity and transcendent spirit.
Ben Williams, Special Guests & Music
The program’s special guests will be selected from a stellar list of talents.
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The music will feature an 11-piece instrumental ensemble with added vocals of such Prince songs as: Let’s Go Crazy, Sign O’ the Times, 1999, When Doves Cry, Controversy, I Would Die For U, The Beautiful Ones, If I Was Your Girlfriend, God, The Cross, Madhouse, Do Me Baby, International Lover, America, and of course, Purple Rain.
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The show is presented in four segments, each representing a different side of Prince.
CONTROVERSY
Music Director & Creator, Ben Williams
GOD
YahZarah with ensemble
SEX SYMBOL
Sy Smith, Maurice Brown with ensemble
REVOLUTION
Sy Smith with ensemble
Ben Williams is an acclaimed bassist, bandleader, music educator, composer and film actor who has performed with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Pat Metheny, Chaka Khan, Pharrell Williams, Robert Glasper, David Sanborn, Maxwell, Kamasi Washington, Jose James, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Terri Lyne Carrington, Benny Golson and Stefon Harris. Williams won his first GRAMMY® Award in 2013 with the Pat Metheny Unity Band for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. A native of Washington, DC, he has garnered numerous awards, including Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll Rising Star Award for Bass in 2013 and 2015, the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition Award, the 2011 iTunes Breakthrough Artist of the Year in the jazz category, the Michigan State University Alumni Award, as well as being the first recipient of the Jazz Innovator Award by the Congressional Black Caucus. Williams has released three solo albums–State of Art (2011) and Coming of Age (2015) on Concord Records, and I Am A Man on Rainbow Blonde Records.