Billy Paul Williams

Not to be confused with the Philadelphia soul singer Billy Paul, whose 1971 smash "Me & Mrs. Jones" defined his career, or with the soft-rock songwriter Paul Williams of the 1970s, Billy Paul Williams works as a producer, composer, musician, mixmaster, and vocalist. In the twenty-first century he has concentrated on varied strains of electronica and dance music. Now based in Miami’s fashionable South Beach district, he is chiefly recognized for the 2002 club track "Sex," a collaboration with DJ Robbie Rivera that reached the top of Billboard’s Hot Dance Tracks chart and found particular favor across Europe. Whereas that exuberant, uptempo house cut showcased an energetic style, his 2003 album Miles to Go adopted a gentler, more relaxed stance. Favoring a downtempo and chill-out direction, the record wove in jazz textures; its title plainly nods to jazz trumpet great Miles Davis. Although Miles to Go does not qualify as jazz itself, the project remains electronica and club music marked by jazz overtones. Williams’s tastes span widely, drawing from influences that include Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Don Cherry as well as house icon Marshall Jefferson, 1970s soul-rock star Billy Preston, and assorted Latin artists. Besides performing on several instruments—guitar, bass, and keyboards among them—he has contributed background vocals for two prominent Latin figures: Columbia’s Shakira and Puerto Rico’s Chayanne. When Kriztal Entertainment issued Miles to Go in June 2003, Williams was simultaneously developing songs for Chayanne’s debut English-language album.