José James Albums
The multi-talented José James is in town (our town, I mean; New York City) today for an appearance on Letterman (watch for it tonight) not to mention an upcoming show at The Highline Ballroom. While he was up he decided to just go ahead and put a full stream of his forthcoming album (and hopefully one of many future José James albums) No Beginning, No End on the web. He also talked to Life & Times about the influence of D'Angelo's Voodoo--a musical spirit you can feel hovering over No Beginning, No End from the very first track. Get a choice quote about the organic effect of working with several members of Team D'Angelo on the project, including Chris "Daddy" Dave, Pino Palladino and Russ "The Dragon" Elevado below and then press play to hear the full album via NPR's First Listen and judge for yourself (full tracklist after the jump).
Q: There’s a crazy D’Angelo vibe.A: I think that album – I can’t believe it’s been so long – that’s been the most influential r&b album of--definitely of my generation. It’s not just the songs and D’s singing, it’s his playing on the keys. It’s the band, ?uestlove, Pino, Charlie Hunter, Roy Hargrove. We’ve all been studying that album since it came out. It’s mind-blowing how they could come up with that. The first session [for No Beginning No End] was with [drummer] Chris Dave and Pino, who are both in his [D'Angelo's] band now, and Russ Elevado, who did Voodoo, tracked it. It was kind of like, “Ok, we are definitely headed toward this territory sound-wise.” I didn’t want to come off as trying to do some D’Angelo stuff, but I can’t think of any other album that’s been so influential. D’Angelo left such a wealth of unexplored territory musically, and to have those dudes [Dave and Palladino] in the studio with Robert Glasper, that to me is one of the best bands in the world.
No Beginning, No End Tracklist
It’s All Over Your Body
Sword + Gun Feat. Hindi Zahra
Trouble
Vanguard
Come To My Door
Heaven On The Ground Feat Emily King
Do You Feel
Make It Right
Bird of Space
No Beginning No End
Tomorrow
Come To My Door (Acoustic)
