Click Here for Video Sample! Tribute To The Great Bill Withers On Double LP!
Jazz vocal stylist José James is releasing Lean On Me, a tribute album including 12 of Bill Withers' most undeniable and soulful songs produced by Blue Note president Don Was and recorded in Capitol's legendary Studio B with a dream team band: Pino Palladino (bass), Kris Bowers (keys), Brad Allen Williams (guitar) and Nate Smith (drums). Special guests include vocalist Lalah Hathaway, saxophonist Marcus Strickland and trumpeter Takuya Kuroda. Withers' nuanced perspective on romantic love rings throughout the album: the ache of "Ain't No Sunshine", echoed by Bowers' expressive Rhodes; the celebration of vulnerability on "Use Me", featuring Takuya Kuroda's Voodoo-evoking brass arrangements; and the bittersweet balladry of "Hello Like Before", here in a dreamy hue. And then there's "Lovely Day", which displays Lalah Hathaway's voice dancing along with James' to all that ineffable joy.
"Bill wrote the songs you love your whole life," says James. "I didn't want to put hip-hop beats under his music or deconstruct it with ten-minute bebop solos. There was only one right move here: show up with a killer band, run the tape, capture the vibe. We just played the songs."
Over recent years, James has been adding ever more Withers songs to his live set until he had a huge medley that felt "like the best kind of church people crying, dancing, singing and shouting. It was powerful," he says. Lean On Me began as a touring project, but James always intended to turn it into an album. Bill Withers gave the project his blessing.
"Meeting Bill Withers was one of the personal highlights of my life," says James. "He's a total genius and one of the coolest people I've ever met. I learned more in that one hour with him than I learned at music school or a decades worth of live shows. I showed him my list of his songs and he absolutely loved it. I think he's happy that his music still has a place in the lives and hearts of people worldwide and that we all want to celebrate his life and talent."
"Already known for his crisp production values, astute musicianship and eclectic presentations, Jose James delivers again with his tribute to Bill Withers, Lean on Me. The album reaffirms James' signature attention to stylistic pastiche while further refining his thematic focus on the subtleties of human relationships. Here James' narcotic blend is simultaneously steeped in tradition and floats at the horizon of modernity. The beats penetrate with unabashed eroticism. James' voice coos with soul and cuts with the dirty edge of rock 'n roll. The music twists with jazz's precision and artistry as James uses the 12 selections to traverse the landscape of the American vocal tradition. Lean On Me is as pleasurable a listen as it is a potent honoring of a master singer and song writer." - All About Jazz, 4.5/5
Features:
• Double LP
• 3 sides of music
• Gatefold Jacket
Musicians:
Jose James, vocals
Pino Palladino, bass
Kris Bowers, keyboards
Brad Allen Williams, guitar
Nate Smith, drums
Lalah Hathaway, vocals
Marcus Strickland, saxophone
Takuya Kuroda, trumpet
Selections:
Side A:
1. Ain't No Sunshine
2 .Grandma's Hands
3. Lovely Day feat. Lalah Hathaway
4. Lean On Me
Side B:
1. Kissing My Love
2. Use Me
3. Who Is He
4. Hello Like Before
Side C:
1. Just The Two Of Us
2. Hope She'll Be Happier
3. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh
4. Better Off Dead
