José James: Maximum Seductiveness

NY Times Review: Ben Ratliff Playlist

"José James is a young American jazz singer who’s gotten most of his reputation making moody, post-D’Angelo R&B in Europe. He has traces of Gil Scott-Heron and Joe Williams in his voice; he can swing hard, murmur, sing ballads and chant cosmic chants. He still hasn’t made the serious jazz record my ear can imagine, but perhaps “Blackmagic” (on the British label Brownswood Recordings) is fresher than that anyway.

Partly produced by Steven Ellison, the Southern California innovator known as Flying Lotus, it weaves through dense headphone moments (“Warrior”), a dramatically delicate jazz ballad with piano, bass and brushed drums (“The Light”) and the great rhythm-and-blues tune “Save Your Love for Me,” written by Buddy Jones, which has been sung by some of the best pop singers of the century — Nancy Wilson, Etta Jones, Bobby (Blue) Bland. I’m being overoptimistic, but at least I have cause to wonder whether Mr. James could be, someday, among that company."

Influences:

Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Life....

Program:

4 mar 2010 20:00 Le Poster a Galene Marseille

5 mar 2010 20:00 Le Jam Montpellier
6 mar 2010 20:00 Centro Cultural Cordon Burgos
7 mar 2010 20:00 Auditorium (Hall B) Barcelona
10 mar 2010 20:00 Festsaal (at Kaufleuten) Zurich
11 mar 2010 20:00 Sinkkasten Frankfurt
12 mar 2010 20:00 Ampere Munich
14 mar 2010 20:00 Lido Berlin
15 mar 2010 20:00 Luxor Cologne
16 mar 2010 20:00 Stage Hamburg
18 mar 2010 20:00 Band On The Wall Manchester

by John Murph
Melding jazz with electronica may be a dicey proposition, but when the combination is executed as deftly as it is on José James' "Detroit Loveletter," the result can be smart and sexy. The song's producer, Moodymann, is based in the titular city, and he's long had a knack for incorporating that town's multifaceted musical legacy into soul-stirring deep house. Here, Moodymann uses the legacy of Motown — most notably Marvin Gaye and two of Gaye's most revered producers, Norman Whitfield and Leon Ware — as a jumping-off point, infusing James' sound with wah-wah guitar, overdubbed vocal harmonies and shadowy rhythms.

Still, James' silken baritone remains in the spotlight throughout "Detroit Loveletter," as he croons words crafted for maximum seductiveness. The improvisational pliancy of his singing reveals his jazz bona fides. He never mentions Detroit in the song, but when he sings "Feel like dancing" over a four-on-the-floor pulse, his shout-out to that city’s deep house scene rings loud and clear.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124077475&sc=nl&cc=sod-20100225