World series champ Williams steps up to the plate for Hot Stove

Is Bernie Williams a better baseball player or guitarist?

The answer has to be baseball player. The ex-Yankee is a four-time World Series champion and five-time All-Star outfielder. But listen to his album “Moving Forward,” listen to his classical-influenced original tune “Lullaby for Beatriz” or the hot blues licks he rips out while playing with Bruce Springsteen on the Boss’ “Glory Days,” and it’s not so obvious.

Of course, music and baseball aren’t analogs. And Williams knows that better than anyone.

“I don’t see baseball and music in the same light,” he said. “Baseball was the epitome of competitiveness. That is what baseball meant to me: being the best, comparing my numbers (to other players), the confrontation at the plate against the pitcher, making a good play out in the field. It’s all about competition. Music has more of a spiritual aspect to it in that you get your soul involved in it.”

Williams is a perfect fit to perform at this year’s virtual Hot Stove Cool Music event. On May 18, Williams will join Massachusetts’ icons and rock royalty including Yo-Yo Ma, Julianna Hatfield, Bill Janovitz, Kay Hanley and a dozen more at the online Hot Stove concert as it raises funds for Theo and Paul Epstein’s Foundation To Be Named Later, Peter Gammons College Scholarships and their nonprofit partners.

The baseball legend grew up in Puerto Rico on the diamond and in performance arts school Escuela Libre de Musica. The guitar has been in his life for decades, but since retiring in 2006,  he’s only enhanced his chops releasing second album “Moving Forward” in 2009 and graduating from the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in jazz guitar in 2016.

“I knew I was going to be involved in music after my baseball career was over but even before I retired I was thinking I wanted to improve my skills and become more serious as a musician,” he said of getting his degree. “I knew I needed some formal training. Not only to be a better player, but to become more involved in music education.”

Williams is always happy to talk baseball. But his voice brightens up talking guitar, songwriting and music programs for kids. He hasn’t released an album since “Moving Forward,” which hit No. 2 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz album chart, scored a Latin Grammy nomination and featured Springsteen, Jon Secada and Dave Koz. But he’s been playing, practicing, studying and writing a lot, even more so during the lockdowns of last year.

Thinking about how much work he’s put into his instrument, Williams cycles back to that silly question of baseball vs. music.

“The guy upstairs, God up above, gave me a certain amount of ability to play the game of baseball, and I think I used that to the maximum,” Williams said. “I knew exactly what I could do and could not do as a baseball player. And I have had quite the opposite experience with music. Every year that I play, every week that I play, every day that I play, I feel I am a better player than I was a day, or week, or year before. I have been enjoying that there is no ceiling to it. The more work you put in as a player or a composer, the better you will be.”

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For details and tickets to Hot Stove Cool Music, go to foundationtobenamedlater.org.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3w9vreQ