José James at Klub Eter: jazz and soul from ‘No Beginning No End’

Before the concert at Klub Eter

Concert preview update. On 15 October 2013, Radio RAM published its four-part interview with José James. Maciek Przestalski and Maciek Szabatowski spoke to the singer about his new record and tour a few days before the Wrocław show.

The Wrocław concert will take place on Tuesday at Klub Eter, 19 Kazimierza Wielkiego Street. The following night, 23 October, José James will play Fabryka Trzciny in Warsaw. The concert will open the Warsaw edition of City Sounds.

From ‘The Dreamer’ to Blue Note

Minneapolis-born José James discovered jazz in part through samples he heard in hip-hop. He released ‘The Dreamer’ in 2008. On ‘Blackmagic’ he brought his voice into electronic production. That same year, 2010, he also made ‘For All We Know’, a set of standards recorded as a duo with Belgian pianist Jef Neve. The two albums show how differently he could use his voice. Rhythm drives the first record. On the second, the piano gives him room to shape each phrase. Blue Note Records artist biography.

‘Trouble’ was James’s first Blue Note single, released in 2012. He opened with it at New York’s Greene Space in January 2013, just days before ‘No Beginning No End’ came out. In the version recorded for The Current, he sings the same song in a stripped-down arrangement. WNYC session and interview.

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The musicians on ‘No Beginning No End’

Bassist Pino Palladino, pianist Robert Glasper and drummer Chris Dave contributed to the album. Hindi Zahra joins James on ‘Sword + Gun’, and Emily King sings with him on ‘Heaven on the Ground’. King also wrote ‘Come to My Door’, which gave its name to a summer 2013 EP of new versions. The album at Blue Note Records · The ‘Come to My Door’ EP.

Ahead of his Wrocław visit, James has already recorded two different versions of ‘Trouble’ and an album with musicians who move freely between jazz, soul and hip-hop. The Klub Eter concert will offer a chance to hear how the songs from ‘No Beginning No End’ sound live.