Jose James

“Since releasing ‘The Dreamer’ in 2008 it’s been like an explosion!” declares José James in that warm, smokey baritone voice. He’s at Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood HQ and the next album, ‘BLACKMAGIC’, is in the can. José is looking and feeling good. Totally energized by the recent experiences and collaborations that have transformed his life, he’s left Brooklyn and settled in north London.

“In the past year I’ve played in 30 different countries.” he says shaking his head in seeming disbelief. “I did the North Sea jazz Festival in front of 1500 people. Of course there was Gilles’ Worldwide Festival in Singapore – I met Taylor McFerrin there who I’ve since worked with on the album. At Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, a collaboration with pianist Jef Neve attracted 2000 people and a five star review.

“Since releasing ‘The Dreamer’ in 2008 it’s been like an explosion!”

“In the States I did some shows with Nicola Conte – I sang on his ‘Rituals’ album.” José continues. “With his band I performed at the Highland Ballroom in NYC and the Regatta Bar in Boston – the classic Boston Jazz spot. The Charlie Parker Festival was a good look and last summer, on the recommendation of Robert Glasper, I sang at the Detroit Festival with Christian McBride’s band. It was the opening night – Marvin Gaye night! Diane Reeves opened up. It was heavy. Other singers included Lalah Hathaway and Rahsaan Patterson. The band was a six piece plus a full brass section and backup singers. The baddest band I’ve ever played with.”

José cemented his reputation in Japan by performing in Tokyo twice in two weeks. Firstly with Soil & ‘Pimp’ Sessions offshoot J.A.M., with whom he recorded ‘Just A Maestro’, and secondly with Nicola Conte’s combo. José’s version of ‘Night in Tunisia’ appeared on the Toshio Matsuura produced ‘Blue Note Street’ album and his track with DJ Mitsu, which received a serious airing on J Wave, has been licensed for ‘BLACKMAGIC’.

As the singer says he’s gone from having some good ideas to acquiring a serious international reputation. ‘The Dreamer’ has sold 30,000 copies across the globe, going gold in Benelux. On the home front, in the States, he popped up at number 21 in the Jazz Times Top 50 albums of 2008, and Downbeat recently placed him in their Top 10 of rising star male jazz singers. And that’s without a physical US release.

However, what marks José James’ current trajectory off from the past is the nature of his collaborations. Along with those outlined above – Nicola Conte, J.A.M., Toshio Matsuura, DJ Mitsu, Jef Neve – there are tracks with Basement Jaxx (‘Scars’), Jazzanova (‘Of All the Things’), octogenarian legend Chico Hamilton (’12 Tones Of Love’) and his long time mentor Junior Mance (‘Live at Café Loup’). But it’s the collisions with beatmakers like Flying Lotus and Benga that signify a genuine break from The Songbook tradition and confirm a path paved by his version of Freestyle Fellowship’s ‘Park Bench People’. To José James, an artist like Flying Lotus is not just  a beatmaker, he is on the cutting edge of contemporary musical composition.

“…it’s the collisions with beatmakers like Flying Lotus and Benga that signify a genuine break from The Songbook tradition and confirm a path paved by his version of Freestyle Fellowship’s ‘Park Bench People’.”

“I met Flying Lotus when he was promoting his ‘Reset’ EP“ reflects José. “I gave him everything I’d done – 30 tracks. He liked what he heard and said, ‘Let’s make a Soul EP for fun. ‘Visions Of Violet’ was the first release. It came out on the flip to the 12″ of ‘Park Bench People’. People liked that so we started work on other tracks based on 10 – 15 tracks, some of which he’s written for me. ‘Blackmagic, the title track of the album, was like, ‘How do I get into the music and really make it really lyrical… turn it into a fleshed out song. I think works really well.”

“We did a bunch of stuff including ‘Equinox’. We thought the older jazz people would run from ‘Emotions’ but they thought it was the dopest song in the set. It was amazing!”

“I also wanted to do a track that captured the spirit of Forward at Plastic People and Benga’s ‘Emotions’ had to be it. I’d met Benga at the Worldwide Awards 2008 and his album ‘Diary Of An Afro Warrior’ was so big for me. I took it with me everywhere. So fresh!” explains José. His intuition was borne out when they performed it at an intense, tiny jazz club in Montpellier with pictures of Elvin Jones gazing down from the walls. “We did a bunch of stuff including ‘Equinox’. We thought the older jazz people would run from ‘Emotions’ but they thought it was the dopest song in the set. It was amazing!”

Click HERE to download the José James EPK containing press shots, his biography and ‘BLACKMAGIC’ press release.