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Bernie puts guitar skills on display at music gala
- Updated: May 12, 2016
NEW YORK — Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones have all performed at New York City’s legendary Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. On Wednesday night, former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams joined that esteemed group as he performed Art Blakey’s “Moanin'” with five other musicians from the Manhattan School of Music at the school’s annual gala.
Williams, who was a four-time World Series champion and a five-time All-Star during his 16-year career with the Yanks, will graduate from MSM with a Bachelors of Music in jazz guitar on Friday afternoon, when he will walk with his classmates in a cap and gown ceremony at Riverside Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Williams, though, was hardly the most famous person at the Rainbow Room. Attendees of the MSM Gala included music legend Tony Bennett, Yankees All-Star outfielder Roy White and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, whose wife, Nancy, attended MSM.
Though Williams’ last season with the Yanks was 2006, he did not officially retire from baseball until April 24, 2015.
“After this thing about being a professional baseball player with the Yankees, I decided to be a rock star,” Williams said that day.
Though at that time, Williams was already well on his path to that goal.
During Williams’ time with the Yankees, music was never far away, and his guitar was always within reach in the Yanks’ clubhouse and on team flights. He also made time to record professionally while still playing baseball. Williams released his first album, “The Journey Within,” in 2003. It reached No. 3 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart. His second album, “Moving Forward,” was released in 2009 and featured guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Secada and Dave Koz. The album debuted as Billboard’s No. 2 contemporary jazz album and was nominated for a Latin Grammy.
Williams entered MSM as a sophomore in 2013, having accrued some credits while studying to be a doctor as a young man in Puerto Rico.
“Bernie wanted to be just a student, …
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