Jose James - Blackmagic

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:14
Size: 153.9 MB
Styles: Neo Soul
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[ 4:54] 1. Code
[ 4:18] 2. Touch
[ 5:06] 3. Lay You Down
[ 4:35] 4. Promise In Love
[ 5:55] 5. Warrior
[ 3:50] 6. Made For Love
[ 3:32] 7. Save Your Love For Me
[ 4:19] 8. The Greater Good
[ 4:03] 9. Blackmagic
[ 4:01] 10. Detroit Lovelette
[ 5:16] 11. Love Conversation
[ 4:10] 12. Beauty
[ 2:40] 13. No Tellin'-I Need You
[10:29] 14. The Light

When Gilles Peterson's Brownswood imprint released American vocalist and composer José James' debut album Dreamer, the effect in club culture and throughout the jazz communities in New York, Japan, and Europe was immediate. Jazz Times selected it as one of its albums of the year in 2008. James' voice echoed the social consciousness of Gil Scott-Heron, the hipness of Babs Gonzales, the sophistication of Jon Lucien, and the soulfulness of Terry Callier, whether he was improvising over a piano trio playing Mingus, or singing his own lyrics over electronic beats. On Blackmagic, James forges deeper into 21st century soul and experimental territory, without giving up his jazz chops. Enlisting Flying Lotus and a number of other producers, this is a late-night, groove record that allows hip-hop, club jazz, and lithe funk to accent -- rather than drive -- his smooth, sultry baritone. His approach, while more innovative this time out, feels no less organic. The set kicks off with “Code,” produced by Flying Lotus. A Rhodes piano, congas, languid bassline, the sounds of scratchy vinyl, backing vocals, and ambient sounds underscore James’ vocal; phrasing only a few words at a time as hip hop beats and skittering loops permeate his lines. Likewise, the ethereal title track shivers with sensual invitation via a mercurial groove created by Flying Lotus with guitars, elegantly caressed snares, and James answering his more declamatory sung lines with crooning improvisations. “Lay You Down” is a neo-soul babymaker, with a handclap à la D’Angelo as the basis for its pulse. James’ airy delivery is the melodic instrument as horns, Rhodes, bass, and drums fill the space dimensionally. “Warrior” is an uptempo groover using Benga's “Emotions” dubstep rhythm as its ground before kit drum breaks, basses, and the woven textures of acoustic and electric pianos push from underneath; James chants/sings in call and response with himself. “Detroit Loveletter” is a telltale Moodymann production. It’s an utterly seductive soul-by-cut-groove ballad, with a funky shimmering bassline, dreamy backing vocals, and wistful keys; James' vocal hovers above this mix. The grain in his voice beckons the listener to pleasures unnamed but unmistakable. As a whole, Blackmagic is skillfully sequenced and intelligently arranged to avoid neo-soul or jazz clichés -- there isn’t a hint of artifice on it. This is 21st century jazzed-out soul at its best; and in the spirit of both traditions, it creates something new from traces of the familiar. ~Thom Jurek

Blackmagic

---

Jose James & Jef Neve - For All We Know

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:44
Size: 116.1 MB
Styles: Piano jazz, Contemporary jazz vocals
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[3:18] 1. Autumn In New York
[6:13] 2. Embraceable You
[5:18] 3. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
[6:24] 4. Body And Soul
[5:12] 5. When I Fall In Love
[7:24] 6. Tenderly
[4:13] 7. Just Squeeze Me
[7:26] 8. Lush Life
[5:11] 9. For All We Know

Fans of vocalist José James have hardly had time to catch their breath in 2010. His new-school R&B album Blackmagic (a sophomore effort released in March 2010 on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood imprint) was still being fired by DJs in clubs and on European and Japanese radio, while garnering acclaim globally. Barely two months later, James popped this set out in May. For All We Know is a duet recording with Belgian jazz pianist Jef Neve. It's James' first album to be released in the United States -- his home country -- and the first of newly recorded material on Impulse! Records in six years. Musically, this set couldn’t be more different from his two preceding offerings. There are no star productions by Flying Lotus, Nicola Conte, Moodymann, or Jazzanova this time out. This intimate nine-track collection of standards from the Great American Songbook was produced by the duo who made it. All but one cut was recorded in a single six-hour session, and the majority of these performances are first takes. This is a “pure” jazz recording. James and Neve pull out heavy hitters from the repertoire, "Autumn in New York," the Gershwins' "Embraceable You," "Body and Soul," and Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" among them. James -- who studied and played with jazz greats Chico Hamilton and Junior Mance -- is not overly reverent, but he is disciplined as well as innovative. Neve’s pianism pushes that envelope a little further still. His light touch, elegant harmonics, and subtly innovative fills and solos give James all the support and room he needs. Listen to this version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." At over seven minutes, its graceful melody is taken deeply inside his rich, warm, sometimes arid baritone (the same way John Coltrane took it inside his horn -- this tune is a tribute to him) and brought out again as a compact universe of mystery, imagination, and marvelously diverse ethereal textures with Neve creating enough intuitive space around it to make it possible. The duo’s reading of "When I Fall in Love" is downright moving. It holds no trace of the nostalgia usually associated with its many interpretations. James is able to express the deep yearning in the lyric and melody without over-emoting. For jazz fans who’ve not heard him, this album is a very new turn on some well-worn music by a major talent. For James' fans -- who all knew he could sing like this -- For All We Know adds a different kind of depth and dimension to his established recorded oeuvre thus far. ~Thom Jurek

For All We Know

---

José James - While You Were Sleeping

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:46
Size: 117,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:12)  1. Angel
(4:12)  2. U R The 1
(6:17)  3. While You Were Sleeping
(5:50)  4. Anywhere U Go
(4:01)  5. Bodhisattva
(5:12)  6. 4 Noble Truths
(4:21)  7. Dragon (Feat. Becca Stevens)
(0:56)  8. Salaam
(3:14)  9. Without U
(3:29) 10. Every Little Thing
(4:01) 11. XX
(4:53) 12. Simply Beautiful (Feat. Takuya Kuroda)

José James is one of the most fascinating singers to appear in popular music over the last decade. On five previous recordings he's tackled jazz standards, hip-hop, neo-soul, funk, and even Moroccan gnawa. He claims that While You Were Sleeping is a synthesis of everything he loves about music citing Nirvana, Frank Ocean, Radiohead, and Junip in his list. He shifts directions yet again here, this time bringing his take on rock and pop into his musical arsenal. New guitarist Brad Allen Williams adds immeasurably to this ambition, joining a veteran band that includes keyboardist Kris Bowers, bassist/vocalist Solomon Dorsey, and drummer Richard Spaven.

"Angel" is just one tune where Williams openly references the Jimi Hendrix of Band of Gypsys and Cry of Love. On "Angel," the band weaves fluid, silvery, wah-wah guitar distortion, jazzy Rhodes piano, dropped funky bass, and rolling, shuffling snares and breaks under his dark, sensual baritone. The title track (which briefly quotes from Neil Young's "Heart of Gold") weds folky psych pop to cosmic soul with a killer lead guitar break. The quiet drama in James' voice exudes elegance and earthiness. "Anywhere U Go" employs an aggressive bassline, shimmering Rhodes, and skittering, propulsive breaks against a guitar vamp that makes use of Nirvana's clipped melodic aesthetic. 

The spiritually resonant "4 Noble Truths" is introduced by strummed acoustic guitar in a minor key and a cracking snare. They are fleshed out provocatively by an expressionistic string quartet and a spiraling B-3. Becca Stevens makes one of her duet appearances on her haunting original "Dragon." Its Eastern-tinged slow groove is adorned by spacious guitar effects and elliptical keyboards atop a hushed rhythm section. Soul informs everything here. Check the stretched Madlib meets Flying Lotus beats in the sexy, tender "U R the 1." The minor-key melody in "XX" is one of James' better belly-to-belly love jams. His steamy croon is elevated by his lyrics, which are as poetically cognizant as they are carnally aware. The contrasting elements of pointillist rock guitars and warm indie electronica bump against the interlocking rhythm section. Al Green's "Simply Beautiful," features guest trumpeter and labelmate Takuya Kuroda delivering a fine solo. It's no ordinary cover. 

James recombines jazz, soul, and blues in a compelling arrangement that frames his trademark phrasing with tender yet sultry delivery. It underscores how provocative While You Were Sleeping is. With James' voice and nearly iconic harmonic sensibility as a guide, these genres flow into, rub against, and ultimately redefine one another. His creative reach, at least at this juncture appears to be boundless. ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/while-you-were-sleeping-mw0002639674

Personnel: Jose James: vocals; Kris Bowers: organ; Solomon Dorsey: bass; Takuya Kuroda: trumpet; Brad Allen Williams: guitar; Richard Spaven: drums.

While You Were Sleeping

---

José James - Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:57
Size: 112,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Good Morning Heartache
(5:55)  2. Body And Soul
(5:09)  3. Fine And Mellow
(5:23)  4. I Thought About You
(5:36)  5. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
(3:22)  6. Tenderly
(6:39)  7. Lover Man
(6:12)  8. God Bless The Child
(4:48)  9. Strange Fruit

José James has a reputation as a 21st century musical renaissance man. He's issued a remarkably consistent series of records that blur the lines between soul, funk, dance music, jazz, and rock. In addition, in 2010, he released For All We Know, a fine collection of jazz standards in duet with Belgian pianist Jef Neve. It is from this place that James releases Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday. In his liner essay he cites Holiday as the artist who made him aspire to be a jazz singer. Accompanied by pianist Jason Moran, drummer Eric Harland, and bassist John Patitucci, James delivers a program of beauty and restraint for the centennial of her birth. James, who has the ability to accomplish startling vocalese and scat techniques, brings none it. He offers these songs with nuance, subtlety, and grace, allowing his considerable discipline to inform his readings. He doesn't imitate Holiday because no one could, though many have tried but instead showcases how she opened herself to the songs themselves, and imbued them not only with sophistication but the cavernous honesty of emotional experience. 

"Good Morning Heartache" is elegantly paced and sparsely articulated. It emerges from the shadows just enough to reveal how deep these blues go and James responds to them with his own inimitable phrasing. In "Body and Soul," passion simmers with longing and disconsolate heartache as Moran layers his chords with gentle fills. They anchor James, keeping him from slipping beneath the weight of the emotional waves. In return, he allows the material to speak through him with slight skillful improvisational touches. In "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," this fine band flexes its muscles. Moran sprints through harmonically inventive runs atop Patitucci's frenetic comping as Harland adds elastic syncopation to bop. James doesn't enter until halfway through and glides through the lyric, creating contrast without limiting the swing. The slow, simmering "Lover Man" builds and dissipates tension several times in coming from the blues' deep well. On "God Bless the Child," the pianist opts for a Fender Rhodes. James uses this change to the song's advantage. He finds the seam in the lyric just as Holiday did and allows it to carry him inside the gorgeous melody, and everything gels.

"Strange Fruit" is a song covered and badly interpreted so many times it's nearly painful to hear any version but Holiday's. Until now. Accompanied only by trancelike handclaps and a chorale of (his own) hummed backing vocals in four-part gospel harmony, James imbues his haunted reading with moral authority and harrowing impact. James' phrasing is chilling. His accusation, like Holiday's before him, comes through the painful bewilderment of delivering the lyric, not overdramatization of it. On Yesterday I Had the Blues, James stays exceptionally close to the spirit of Holiday's work. 

He does so without embalming her music as a museum piece or smothering his own voice, thereby adding a real contribution to her legacy. This is his most intimate, powerful, and masterful date. ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/yesterday-i-had-the-blues-the-music-of-billie-holiday-mw0002805344

Personnel: José James, vocals;  Jason Moran, piano, Fender Rhodes, piano; Eric Harland, drums.

Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday

---