Bernie Williams - Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Williams is 'Moving Forward' with his new CD

Critically acclaimed guitarist/songwriter and famed NY Yankees star Bernie Williams released his second CD titled "Moving Forward" in mid April. Williams kicks off his CD with "Moving Forward," a song inspired by his transition from baseball to music.
The Puerto Rico native and five-time All Star is a classically-trained musician who developed his love for playing guitar alongside baseball, while listening to salsa, merengue and 80’s rock. "Moving Forward" embraces those early influences, while also reflecting a unique mixture of classical and jazz guitar with a touch of Latin rhythms.
I felt at peace as I listened to the sounds of Williams' guitar.
The CD consists of 14 songs, many of them that Williams wrote. You get a sense of things that are important to Williams. These include "Lullabye for Beatriz," a song he wrote for his daughter and "Songo," a song inspired by his love of fusion, so he "mixed a little salsa with some jazz, rock and Christian (the Puerto Rican cuatro player Christian Nieves) took it home with some 'sazon criollo.'
"Moving Forward" also features performances by David Koz (Ritmo de Otoño), Jon Secada ("Just Another Day" and "Otro Dia Mas Sin Verte"), and a live performance with Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa ("Glory Days").
The Latin flavor could be felt in this CD with Bernie Williams' jazz touch on the classic "Que Rico El Mambo." It is still very much a song you can dance.
And, you know Williams couldn't forget baseball, offering his version of the baseball classic "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The song is a tribute to his love for baseball, a game he's played since he was eight years old. Williams played his entire 16-year baseball career with the New York Yankees where he was a four time World Series champion and a five-time All Star and including this song in his CD has a special place in his heart.
If you are into guitars, Jazz, a touch of rock, pop and Latin rhythms, I recommend you add "Moving Forward" to your music collection. -- Clarisel Gonzalez


For more information, www.berniewilliams.com.

(video courtesy of Reform Records at YouTube)

NOTE: "Moving Forward" is available at the PRSUN aStore:

NCPRR's Victor Vazquez to chat with PRSUN Radio

Victor Vazquez is president of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights (NCPRR), and he will chat with PRSUN Radio at 9 p.m. Wednesday at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio. Vazquez will talk about the NCPRR's goals and plans, including its upcoming convention in Philadelphia.

For more information, visit my blog at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

UPDATE

To listen to my interview with Vazquez:

Making Census?

Commentary

by Angelo Falcón

The campaign to unveil plans for Census 2010 has produced the first official sign that it is now serious: the Census 2010 mug. Once the mug is out it is clear that it is show time for the crew out in Suitland, Maryland. It is, the mug announces, "in our hands" (whether this means that it is the Census or the mug that is in our hands is not all that clear, however).

Planning for Census 2010 has been plagued by more drama than a reality TV show. There were the management problems last year with the handheld computers' contract, there were the untimely withdrawals of Governor Richardson and then Senator Gregg from the Commerce Secretary nomination process, then there was the pullout of Ken Prewitt from his nomination as Census Director (he's now, however, a consultant with the Bureau), and, well, it just goes on and on. With all this going on, it made making sure that Latino community concerns were being addressed somewhat of a challenge.

As the Census Bureau continues to forge ahead with their plans for Census 2010 --- getting thousands out in the field to verify addresses, hiring hundreds of partnership specialists, finalizing its communications plan, and so on --- the fact that Census Day, April 1, 2010, is less than a year away is beginning to sink in hard. On March 30th, the Bureau held its National Partnership Briefing in Washington that pulled together its various stakeholders, with the highlight being the presence of the spanking new Commerce Secretary, former governor Gary Locke. And now that there is a Commerce Secretary, the expectation that the confirmation of the new Census Director, Robert Grove, will soon follow.

Now the news is filled with stories of mayors and governors announcing Census 2010 initiatives, especially the organizing of Complete Count Committees, throughout the country. In the process, the country is being educated about the importance of the Census in terms of the local distribution of over $300 billion in federal funding and the central role it plays in the redistricting process that determines political representation at the local, state and federal levels of government. There is also much speculation about which states will be gaining and losing seats in the House of Representatives as a result of Census 2010. There is, in other words, a Census 2010 buzz throughout the land.

But the challenges to a successful 2010 Census continue to pop up. As we report below, the Census Bureau's massive communications contract looks like it is in trouble. But even closer to home, some influential Latino evangelical leaders are calling on the undocumented to boycott the 2010 Census to put pressure on the Obama Administration to press for comprehensive immigration reform this year. And the Census Bureau keeps trying to avoid seriously addressing the problem of their having one of the worse records of Latino hiring in the federal government. These are all issues we will be addressing in detail in future issues of the Latino Census eNewsletter. Unless, of course, they decide to cancel Census 2010 after all of this drama.

Angelo Falcón is President of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) and is Chair and Founder of the Latino Census Network. He also serves as a member of the Census Advisory Committee on the Hispanic Population and of the National Steering Committee of the Census Information Centers (CIC) Program. He can be reached at afalcon@latinopolicy.org.

Article reprinted with permission from the National Institute for Latino Policy.