Yasmin Williams

Yasmin Williams plays the Perelman Theater on Saturday, April 3, 2027, as part of the Jazz Series. It's a solo guitar set, and if you're not familiar with her, it's a good place to start. She's a guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist who doesn't stick to one style, and the music she's built around that is hard to pin down.

There's a funny origin story to her playing: she first got into the guitar as a kid through the video game Guitar Hero II. From there she moved on to the real thing, and she's since worked her way across a range of instruments beyond the fingerpicked guitar, including kora, harp guitar, banjo, and electric guitar. She's also collaborated with folk/roots singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan and jazz innovator Immanuel Wilkins, so the jazz billing here fits right in with the company she keeps.

Her most recent album, Acadia, on Nonesuch Records, marked a shift from solo performer to collaborative artist, and it follows her 2021 record Urban Driftwood. The critics have described the sound in a few different ways: The Guardian called it "some of the most purely beautiful guitar music anywhere," and Treblezine described it as a "bright, warm fusion of pastoral jazz, pop-bent folk and sunshine trip-hop." That's a lot of ground to cover in one set, and it's a good idea to have both Acadia and Urban Driftwood in your rotation before the show.

The Perelman Theater is part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus at 300 South Broad Street, and it's known for its acoustics and intimate feel. A couple of practical things to keep in mind before you head over: the campus is cashless, so you'll want a card for any drinks or merch, and they don't allow large bags inside. The show starts at 7:30 PM.