Ben Williams “We Shall Overcome” –

The timing is perfect with Martin Luther King Jr. day having just passed and black history month on the way. This is a dreamy and ambient soundscape meets R&B vocalist tune. It’s got a touch of indie which is what initially drew me in with how softly its is performed within the confines of a diatonic key. Check it out for a daydream of a tune.

ARTIST BIO

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Grammy-winning artist Ben Williams today shared a powerful rendition of “We Shall Overcome.” It follows 1st soulful single “If You Hear Me” from his upcoming album I AM A MAN, out February 7 on Rainbow Blonde Records (co-owned by José James). The title is a reference to picket signs held during Memphis’ historic 1968 African American sanitation workers’ strike and is his most poignant, sociopolitical statement yet.

Following his first two Concord Records albums praised by the likes of NPR, New York Times & Billboard, I AM A MAN has that Soulaquarian album sound from The Roots, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo and beyond. Graduating from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Juilliard, Williams has won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and a Grammy Award as a member of guitarist Pat Metheny’s Unity Band. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Pharrell and more, making his film debut with Don Cheadle in the Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead.