Yasmeen Williams Explained

Yasmeen Williams
Background:solo_singer
Birth Name:Betty J. Williams
Occupation:singer, songwriter
Instrument:vocals
Genre:A cappella, Gospel Music
Associated Acts:Sweet Honey in the Rock, JeffMajors

Yasmeen Williams (Also known as Betty J. Williams, Bheti Yasmeen Williams, and Yasmeen Bheti Williams-Johnson) is an American gospel singer and former member of the African American a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Early life

Yasmeen Williams is the daughter of Baptist preacher Rev. Dr. Edgar L. Williams[1] and Deaconess Gladys E. Weaver Williams.[2] [3] Her father pastored the Second New St. Paul Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. for approximately 45 years.[4]

Williams grew up during the gospel explosion in Washington, D.C. As a youth, she received her training in gospel music from her cousin, Dr. Shirley Ables-Starks[5] [6] of the Joy Gospel Singers[7] and her aunt, Vara Simpson, the founder of two gospel groups – The Service Gospel Singers and The Spiritualettes, who were often featured on the Metro D.C. WOOK Radio Station for early Sunday Morning worship.

According to a recent interview,[8] in the mid 1970s Williams attended the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (then the Festival of American Folklife) and came across a stage that was set up like an old "stoop." She saw a group of Black women sitting on this simulated porch dressed in African attire.[9] As they began to sing a cappella, Williams shared that she could "see my sister’s face in each of those women," and she had the vision of singing with them one day. That group was Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Sweet Honey in the Rock

About a year after she first heard them sing, Williams joined the D.C. Black Repertory Theatre Company. A community funded program, it was under the directorship of actor Robert Hooks and his wife Rosie.[10] The leader of Sweet Honey in the Rock, Bernice Johnson Reagon, was the Director of the theatre's Music Department.[11] In 1976, after hearing Williams sing in class one day,[12] Bernice Johnson Reagon, asked Yasmeen to audition for Sweet Honey in the Rock and she was accepted into the group.[13] [14] She sang with Sweet Honey for 17 years. While her full-time involvement ended in 1985, she often returned for special events and recordings.[15] Sweet Honey in the Rock traveled the world singing and grassroots organizing.[16] The group was booked internationally by Roadwork, another woman's group that was co-organized by Bernice Johnson Reagon and Amy Horowitz.[17] [18] [19] Roadwork not only worked with Sweet Honey in the Rock, but also created Sisterfire,[20] an urban, global multiracial women's cultural festival that brought together diverse women artists like Sweet Honey in the Rock, and other radical women artists. Williams was part of Sweet Honey in the Rock during this time period along with Bernice Johnson Reagon, Evelyn Harris, Patricia Johnson, and later Ysaye Barnwell, and was heavily influenced by the management and organization of Roadwork.[21]

The recipients of numerous awards, including a Grammy for their work on Folkways: A Vision Shared – A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly.[22] Sweet Honey in the Rock is an American institution which is featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History.[23]

Recordings and Major Performances

Major recordings and performances while Williams was active in the group include:

Featured Documentaries, Soundtracks, and Television

Publications

Yasmeen Williams, "Timeless." We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey In The Rock – Still on the Journey, edited by Bernice Johnson Reagon, Anchor Books Doubleday, 1993, pp. 75–86.

Solo career

Williams has recorded four solo albums and contributed to two others with JeffMajors.[28] [29]

Singles

Featured Reviews

Mike Joyce, a columnist for The Washington Post who covered Williams and the D.C. music scene[38] [39] [40] wrote, "Opening was Yasmeen, the local singer best known for her work with Sweet Honey In The Rock. Her rich alto voice produced some sumptuous chest tones and silvery highs as she moved from a gospel tune to songs composed by Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan."[41]

Richard Harrington from The Washington Post said this of Williams' contributions to Sweet Honey: “The readings of the church standards are excellent, but the most memorable moments come in Sweet Honey’s introduction of two stunning West African songs ‘When I Die Tomorrow,’ uncovered at a Baptist church in Liberia and re-arranged by Yasmeen Williams-Johnson, is a compulsive swirl of polyrhythms and congregational communion.”[42]

Family

Yasmeen is the mother of Summer Williams and has six grandchildren.[43]

Notes and References

  1. News: Obituary: WILLIAMS, REV. DR. EDGAR L., SR. . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post Powered by Legacy . December 11, 2003.
  2. News: Byrd . Maria . Introducing Yasmeen on Her Dynamic Hit Single There Is A River . August 2, 2020 . Gospel USA Magazine . December 2014 – January 2015 . Page 9.
  3. News: Obituary: GLADYS E. WILLIAMS . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post Powered by Legacy . February 11, 2015.
  4. Web site: The Visionary – 1958 . Second New St. Paul Baptist Church . August 1, 2020.
  5. The Magic of Jeffmajors and Yasmeen . Talking Drums Magazine: The Exclusive Magazine Dedicated to Arts, Culture, and the Entertainment Industry in the Southeast . September 1989 . 1 . 6 . 13–14.
  6. Book: Carpenter . Bill . "Shirley Ables." Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia . 2005 . Backbeat Books . 5.
  7. Web site: deurecords . Shirley Ables & The Joy Gospel Singers Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum . You Tube . August 1, 2020.
  8. Web site: Yasmeen Oral History Final2 . 14 June 2020 . Roadwork . December 9, 2020.
  9. Web site: Sweet Honey in the World 1974–76 . Performing Arts Legacy Project: Carol Maillard . Performing Arts Legacy Project . August 1, 2020.
  10. News: Ruble . Blair . Robert Hooks and the pioneering DC Black Repertory Company . August 1, 2020 . DC Theatre Scene . September 27, 2019.
  11. News: Harrington . Richard . New Struggles In Sweet Harmony . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post . February 23, 1983.
  12. Web site: Yasmeen Oral History Final2 . 14 June 2020 . Roadwork . December 9, 2020.
  13. News: Cover Story – Sweet Honey at Nine . Washington Out Magazine . November 11, 1982.
  14. Web site: Boyer . Horace Clarence . Sweet Honey In The Rock: Raise Your Voice: About Sweet Honey In The Rock (Written: June 29, 2005) . American Masters . 29 June 2005 . PBS.Org . August 23, 2020.
  15. News: Brace . Eric . The Band Box . August 22, 2020 . The Washington Post . April 8, 1994.
  16. Book: Johnson Reagon, Ed. . Bernice . We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey In The Rock – Still on the Journey . 1993 . Anchor Books Doubleday.
  17. Web site: My History . Amy Horowitz . August 2, 2020.
  18. Web site: Our Story . Roadwork . August 2, 2020.
  19. News: Horowitz . Amy . "There and Back Again" An Audiovisual Journey Into Roadwork, 1978–2018 . August 1, 2020 . Interface Newsletter . March 2019 . International Leadership Association . March 28, 2019.
  20. News: Harrington . Richard . Laying the Roadwork For Sisterfire . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post . June 26, 1982.
  21. Web site: Yasmeen Oral History Final2 . 14 June 2020 . Roadwork . December 9, 2020.
  22. Web site: 1988 Grammy Winners . Recording Academy Grammy Awards . August 1, 2020.
  23. Web site: About . Sweet Honey in the Rock . August 2, 2020.
  24. News: Joyce . Mike . Tribute to Brewster . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post . December 18, 1982.
  25. Web site: Inductee: Reverent Herbert Brewster . Memphis Music Hall of Fame . August 2, 2020.
  26. Web site: Wade in the Water, Vol. 3: African-American Gospel: The Pioneering Composers . Smithsonian Folkways Recording . August 2, 2020.
  27. Web site: Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in The Rock . Women Make Movies . August 2, 2020.
  28. News: Byrd . Maria . Introducing Yasmeen on Her Dynamic Hit Single There Is A River . August 2, 2020 . Gospel USA Magazine . December 2014 – January 2015 . Page 9.
  29. Artists: The Keepers of Our Culture – What Jeffmajors and Yasmeen Give to African-American Culture . Positive Energy Newsletter . March 1989 . 7.
  30. News: Top 30 Independent Gospel Songs Chart (Page 17) . December 6, 2020 . Gospel USA Magazine . December 2014 – January 2015.
  31. News: Cover Story: Introducing Yasmeen on Her Dynamic Hit Single: There Is A River . August 2, 2020 . Gospel USA Magazine . December 2014 – January 2015.
  32. Web site: 60 Million republished 2017 . YouTube . Yasmeen Williams . August 2, 2020.
  33. Web site: The Williams Family Singers Yasmeen – When We All Get To Heaven MP3 Music . cdUniverse . 6 December 2020.
  34. Web site: Live Life . YouTube . Yasmeen Williams . August 2, 2020.
  35. Web site: So Busy – from the CD Miraculous: Original Songs of Christmas & Easter by Yasmeen . YouTube . Yasmeen Williams . August 2, 2020.
  36. Web site: Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray – Yasmeen Williams . YouTube . Yasmeen Williams . August 2, 2020.
  37. Web site: Yasmeen Betty Williams There Is A River Official Video YouTube . YouTube . Yasmeen Williams . August 2, 2020.
  38. Web site: Mike Joyce . Jazz Times – America's Jazz Magazine . August 2, 2020.
  39. News: Joyce . Mike . Yasmeen's Conquering Voice . Washington Post . October 12, 1991.
  40. News: Joyce . Mike . Harp and Voice, Strong and Stirring . The Washington Post . July 30, 1987.
  41. News: Joyce . Mike . OSCAR BROWN: JAZZ DAD . August 1, 2020 . The Washington Post . March 10, 1992.
  42. News: Harrington . Richard . Sweet Honey Pours It On . The Washington Post . November 15, 1985.
  43. News: Payton . Randi . Yasmeen: Out on Her Own! . EW – Every Wednesday . September 1, 1994 . Pages 4–5.

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