Urban Driftwood

The second album from the acoustic guitarist Yasmin Williams is a revelation. At turns her playing reminds me of early Bill Frisell and, especially, Michael Hedges. I listened to the album probably six times before thinking to look up a video of Williams playing. Her Tiny Desk Concert is incredible: she wears tap shoes, tapes a thumb harp by the guitar’s bridge, and proceeds to play the instrument flat in her lap, like a lap steel, but with intricate fingerings and pickings and a flawless sense of rhythm. She’d be a great show. And her album Urban Driftwood is a new favorite.