By: Jean Van White
Yasmin Williams – photo credit: Jean Van White
Following a dream-like performance by Amadou Kouyate who performed on kora and djembe, some of his original compositions, along with traditional 13th century West African music, the masterful guitarist, Yasmin Williams, opened to a packed house at the legendary Birchmere Music Hall.
Yasmin’s stunning display of genteel guitar pyrotechnics that included percussive dulcimer-like hammering, tapping, and and strumming; immersing the audience in a mesmerizing set of original compositions.
This was her hometown crowd and the third stop on her tour celebrating the launch of her newest album, Acadia.
Yaz grew up in nearby Woodbridge, an incorporated Virginia town about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C. The dot-on-the-map town is also is the hometown of music legend Emmylou Harris, and five-time Grammy nominated, Shabooze.
Yasmin began playing the guitar after beating all the songs at the expert-level of Guitar Hero II—a game that includes a plastic guitar (no strings) and a challenge to articulately play the “notes” in timely and correct order, at advancing speed..
After conquering Hero II, she asked for and got her first real guitar at age 12, and by her 14th birthday she was composing her own music.
Yasmin, an acoustic finger-style guitarist, is developing her own signature style of guitar playing. She eloquently turns one note into a symphony with the help.of a kalimba she fastens to her guitar, that complements her percussive elements such as slaps, taps and smacks to the her guitar’s strings, as well as rhythmically thumping the top of her guitar in syncopated time. By adding to the mix, her tap shoes and a wood base, she’s able to fill a room with a sonic landscape, as a one-person band. She casually makes the complicated look easy, then ends both her haunting and joyful tunes with a gracious smile aimed at her appreciative audience.
Near the end of her Birchmere show, she gifted the audience with a tribute to the great guitarist, Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson (1923 – 2012), with an innovative and jubilant interpretation of his own classic, “Doc’s Guitar”.
Yasmin has shared the stage and collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel and Aoife O’Donovan and most recently was featured on Late Night with Stephen Colbert.
Coincidently, her Tiny Desk Concert hosted by NPR, came on line earlier the day of the show, gathering a stunning 85,000 views within the first 24 hours!
Seeing Yasmin live for the first time is a gobsmack — a moment you’ll forever fondly remember.
This year’s national tour also takes her to New York, Pennsylvania, then off to the West Coast.
If she’s coming your way, grab your tickets early to spend a wonderful evening with Yasmin, who’ll offer you an uplifting performance of musical magic and joy.
PHOTO GALLERY – YASMIN WILLIAMS AT THE BIRCHMERE (Photos: Jean Van White)
YASMIN WILLIAMS NEW ALBUM RELEASE YOUTUBE – ACADIA
