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protoslacker · 1 year

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I hope people understand that I’m trying to help develop new repertoire for the new frontier for jazz singers,” James says. “To call something as standard is a decision of what we deem important in society, whose voice should be heard in perpetuity.

José James in an interview by John Murph in Downbeat. José James Finds His Baduizm

On & On is a wonderful album.

I had just heard some musicians complaining about "young people today" or some such thing. I am old and out of touch but that diss had me wondering about young singers and how I might find out about them. José James is not really young, but he's a generation removed from me. And I like his music a lot. So I went to YouTube and watched a set on the Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center.

The line up: Drums - Jharis Yokley, Pianist- Julius Rodriguez, Saxophonist - Ebban Dorsey, and Bassist - Ben Williams. It is a fantastic band and crossing generations in so many interesting ways.

When I opened up The Healer from Eryikah Badu's 2008 album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), I noticed comments about what a big impression the album had made when they were very young.

James remarks about the album: “Jazz singing has always been about interpreting the highest level of standards of your time. And for my generation Erykah Badu has been one of the most innovative and incisive songwriters. Her work has proven to be groundbreaking in a social, musical and artistic sense.” It’s great to hear young people engage with this music.

#music #erykah badu #jose james #jazz standards

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didierleclair · 1 year

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#jose james #soul music #jazz #soulful #soul singer

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luuurien · 1 year

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José James - On & On

(Neo-Soul, Contemporary R&B, Soul Jazz)

Lending his sultry baritone vocals to a collection of Erykah Badu covers, José James’ latest album shows not only his vast knowledge of her discography but just how attuned he is to neo-soul tradition. These fresh takes on classic tracks hold onto that groovy, soul jazz sound while embracing younger musicians and modern jazz concepts.

☆☆☆☆

It’s hard to imagine an album of Erykah Badu covers going wrong, but only someone like José James could give it such warmth and moodiness. Though he arose years after Badu and her contemporaries built the foundations of groovy and atmospheric neo-soul through albums like Mama’s Gun and Brown Sugar, his work ever since 2008’s The Dreamer has been informed both by those past records and all the new ideas brought to jazz and soul throughout the 2010s: the growth of electronica-infused nu-jazz that snuck into 2013’s No Beginning No End, the explosion of glossy alt-R&B and trappy beats that became the foundation of 2017’s shaky but admirable Love in a Time of Madness, even the return to a more organic neo-soul palette on No Beginning No End 2 had hints of bubbly jazz fusion and contemporary pop balladry thrown into the mix alongside James’ romantic vocal jazz. What also happened in that time, though, was his newfound love of cover albums, able to both return back to his roots without the barrier of personal songcraft getting in the way to try his hand at smoky Billie Holiday tunes or the polished pop soul of Bill Withers, and On & On follows a similar trajectory in its renditions of classic Badu tracks. What brings this a step up from your usual cover album, though, is how James chooses to perform these tracks, bringing on saxophonist Ebban Dorsey and flautist/saxophonist Diana Dzhabbar to surge young blood through these decades-old tracks. The resulting songs stay true to all the things that made them great originally while embracing the many melodic and compositional avenues younger jazz artists have been laying on top of beloved standards for years now, On & On as much a tribute to Badu as it is a chance for Dorsey and Dzhabbar to work with one of the most prominent vocal jazz musicians working today. Covering songs has been a staple of jazz and soul for the entirety of their existence, but what’s always made it interesting is in how each artist chooses to make their take on any given track feel special and distinct from the source material without forgetting about it entirely. James does this by connecting Badu’s work to the sound he cultivated on albums like No Beginning No End or The Dreamer, mostly live instrumentation with few studio embellishments to get the rawest and most powerful sound he can. Right out of the gate, the opening cover of On & On opens with glorious, meterless interplay between Dorsey and Dzhabbar along with drummer Jhais Yorkley and virtuoso pianist Masayuki Hirano before moving into an unwound take on the song where the groove is just as present even as Yorkley’s drumming and chord tones from Hirano ebb and sway with a human looseness. The other six tracks work off a similar template and reshape it depending on the qualities of the original: Green Eyes keeps the ten minute runtime but trades the long vocal passages for solo sections Hirano and Dzhabbar make fantastic use of; Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long keeps the funky feel but lets go of the electronic vocal effects and chunky drum programming for a smoother, more fluid sound; Out My Mind, Just in Time condenses the original 10 minute version into a intimate two-minute interlude into finale Bag Lady with its gentler sound and flute/synth entanglements. There’s a sensitivity to James’ performances of these tracks that might not make for the most explosive tracks, but it ensures respect to Badu’s work is always present and that On & On can soak in the magnificence of her music while James’ sextet is playing it - you can feel how much passion he has for her music, and that’s the most important quality any cover album can have. There’s not a whole lot else to On & On, but it does everything a good cover album should do and doesn’t compromise any of Badu nor James’ artistic visions in order to make that happen. His love for Badu is evident, and compounded with the opportunity he gives young artists Dorsey and Dzhabbar to show their artistry and show what Badu’s music means to them, few moments of On & On are without spirit and strength. These leaner, loungier takes on Badu’s snappy neo-soul gives the songs a new energy while staying true to their core, tracing the path of Badu’s work decades ago but treating it to a lavish new blend of restrained vocal jazz that pulls the most out of her contemplative, dreamy lyricism. On & On knows every corner of Erykah Badu’s music, and it allows James’ work to become exceptional.

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oxane · 2 years

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Takuya Kuroda ft. Jose James - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (2014)

Blue Note Records

#jazz #music #jose james #takuya kuroda #trumpet #chill #chilllout

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agoodsongeveryday · 24 days

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Day One Thousand One Hundred and Forty Three

We put our hands up to the sky Pray for love divine Someone, tell me why My brothers slowly dying

Angel in the sky Lead me to the light Came to testify Got the Devil in your mind

#jose james #1978

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boricuacherry-blog · 7 months

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#jose james #jazz

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asteroidemaravich · 9 months

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José James - LOVE CONVERSATION

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#jose james #jordana de lovely #Youtube

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audiomoods · 9 months

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Feel what I feel when I feel what I feel when I'm feeling In the sunshine

Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Takuya Kuroda ft. José James

#takuya kuroda #jose james #music #song of the day #sotd #Youtube

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justawanderingfan · 5 months

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Screw canon they’re all bisexual (to me)

#it’s the repressed bi energy #also i think it’s a crime that out of all these dudes only Jacob Frye and Astarion are canonically bi #i think more of them should be bi #<-projecting #sylvain jose gautier #inigo fire emblem #irvine kinneas #astarion #ezio auditore #Jacob Frye #captain kirk #james t kirk #ryuji otogi #duke devlin #howl pendragon #luis serra #dante dmc #gold pokespe

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especias · 1 year

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On & On: José James Sings Badu - Millennium Stage (October 22, 2022)

#jazz #jose james #soul jazz

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dispactke · 1 year

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“Ache For”. José James with Moby.

#moby #jose james #ache for

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protoslacker · 2 years

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José James - The Healer (feat. Ebban Dorsey)

josejamesworldwide

Having an affinity with music of our youth is really common and I’ll admit I am biased that way too. In my late-sixties nobody’s going to call me “hip,” I never have been. But I truly am puzzled by the ubiquitous comments made by people my age disparaging “music nowadays.” There is such a glorious flourishing of music now! So much of it is collaborative across multiple boundaries and there are so many brilliant young musicians. Ebban Dorsey is 16 I think. In the USA there is a long history of Jazz education and it is perhaps one reason for so much collaboration across generations. Anyhow music nowadays stones me.

#music #jose james #jazz education

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asoftepiloguemylove · 7 months

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I TALK TO GOD, BUT THE SKY IS EMPTY; ABOUT GOD

Keaton St. James (@boykeats) Salvation // pinterest // Lisa Marie Basile Andalucia // Sean Glatch (via @sicknessinmotion) // "Shiizakana," Hannibal (2013-2015) dir. Michael Rymer // Antonio Canova Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (via @moonstoast) // Ethel Cain Sun Bleached Flies // José Saramago (tr. Margaret Jull Costa) Cain (via @morepeachyogurt) // Leila Chatti Portrait of the Illness as Nightmare