BONEY JAMES plays Newport Beach Jazz Festival May 30
Saxophonist, Boney James, will be making Newport Beach Jazz Festival his first stop on his upcoming tour. James will be showcasing new tunes from the newly released recording, futuresoul on Sat, May 30 along with other talent scheduled for this year’s festival taking place at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach, CA.
“I have just really been digging the sound of new technology with some old soul influences,” James says. “I wanted to create my own style, kind of like a stew of old and new.”
This four-time GRAMMY-nominated musician and multi-platinum selling saxman continues fusing his love for vintage soul music with a mastery of modern production techniques; futuresoul is proving to be another genre-bending work on the heels of his 2013 GRAMMY-nominated album The Beat.
Newly released on May 4, futuresoul has already debuted as the #1 jazz album on both iTunes and Amazon.
“The forms I’m working with are rooted in my early influences,” explains James. “Artists like King Curtis, the Stylistics and Earth, Wind & Fire all come to mind. But recently I’ve been listening to contemporary artists like Tinashé, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding, and I’m inspired by the sound of their recordings. The production is so cool and evocative.”
His 15th CD, futuresoul contains ten original songs produced and written or co-written by James. Released by Concord Records, the new album features vocalist and Mint Condition front man Stokley on “Either Way,” a collaboration enabled by Twitter.
“Like my recent duet with Raheem DeVaughn, I was able to meet Stokley on Twitter and send him the music for this track,” says James. “He wrote the brilliant lyric and sent me a finished vocal track all via email!”
Other featured performers include rising-star trumpet player Marquis Hill (2014 winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition) on the plaintive “Far From Home” and the title-cut “futuresoul,” is co-written and co-produced by neo-soul mainstay Dwele. Also, the tracks “Drumline” and “Watchu Gon’ Do About It?” are co-written/co-produced with Jairus Mozee (Anthony Hamilton, Robin Thicke).
“This album really did just flow in its creation,” said James. “Each record has it’s own characteristics of its own sound. I have not made any of these melodies before.”
Following early pro gigs, (including sideman stints with Morris Day, the Isley Brothers, Randy Crawford and Teena Marie) James released his debut album, Trust, in 1992. Over the following 23 years James has racked up sales of more than 3 million records, four RIAA gold albums, four GRAMMY nominations, a Soul Train Award, nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and 10 CD’s atop Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. In 2009 Billboard magazine named him the #3 Contemporary Jazz Artist Of The Decade (trailing just Kenny G and Norah Jones).
The Newport Beach Jazz Festival takes place Fri, May 29 – Sun, May 31 at Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, 1107 Jamboree Road. For tickets or more information on the festival visit http://www.festivals.hyattconcerts.com.