Bernie Williams
The Journey Within (GRP, 2003)

08/07/2003

New York Yankees center fielder trades his baseball glove for a lead guitar on his debut album. Jazzy, Latin-spiced and soul-dipped, The Journey Within is better than most efforts by athletes-turned-musicians. (Are you paying attention, Oscar De La Hoya?) Mr. Williams goes for gold in the recording studio, teaming up with stellar guests such as Rubén Blades, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Luis Conte and Béla Fleck. The mood of the CD is smooth, stylish and uplifting as it travels through Latin jazz, samba and quietly moving covers of Kansas' "Dust In the Wind" and Billy Joel's "And So It Goes."

Mario Tarradell