NEW JOSÉ JAMES CONCERTS Belgrade reminds me of New York Following several guest performances, this renowned musician has definitely become a fan of the Serbian capital, where he is now a regular visitor T his New Yorker combines jazz, soul, drum'n'bass and spoken word to form his own unique brand of vocal jazz. While he cites John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye and Bil- lie Holiday as being his main influences, his live performances are more reminiscent of jazz- soul icons of the 1970s, while remaining true to his authentic style. José James, the jazz singer for the hip-hop generation, is set to perform with his band over two concert evenings on 17 th and 18 th October at BitefArtCafe club, where he will present his 12 th studio album, entitled 1978. Named after the year of his birth, this album brings sounds of the ‘70s – the decade that brought together jazz, soul, disco and hip-hop. He spent five years work- ing on the album and has said that it’s his most autobi- ographical work to date. “This album’s exciting for me because this is the first time I completely produced every single… There’s a dif- ferent focus on the Funk and Latin side that’s never been there before, and this is also the first time I’ve real- ly married my hip-hop, Madlib-like sensibility with jazz and my own songwriting, all into one, coherent whole. I’ve experimented with this idea before, but now it’s all come together in a way I’m truly satisfied with,” says José, adding that 1978 was a very significant year in his life... “Yes, it was the year I was born, but I also think it’s a fascinating period in America. It was interesting polit- ically, it was interesting culturally and, of course, musi-
cally. I'm just fascinated by that era because there were so many things colliding. Disco was coming to a peak and ending and about to transform into hip hop. In the Bronx, you had incredible funk musicians doing just ridic- ulous stuff, then this whole New Wave New York thing. You had this punk movement starting. You had reggae on the global scene, and then you had singer-songwrit- ers who had been around for a while, like Paul Simon or Billy Joel. Then you had these jazz guys who had been around, like Quincy Jones, people who had been work- ing in a lot of different ways, all of a sudden, working in R&B and in funk and in pop and creating these incred- ible masterpieces.” We can’t avoid asking this native-New Yorker mu- sician how he perceives his hometown. That’s because James hails from Brooklyn, which meant there was al- ways a high probability of him dealing with either bas- ketball or music… “New York today remains the world’s most urban and vibrant city, an innovator of musical trends and gen- res, the centre of the music industry and the place where everything starts. Every musician has the dream of com- ing to the epicentre of musical dreams and making their mark on history. You don’t go to New York to save up. You have to work on yourself constantly, but also to im- pose yourself in a way, in order to be spotted in that sea of talented and ambitious people. It’s the city that nev- er sleeps, a city jampacked with musicians, artists and creative individuals of the highest calibre in the world. It’s a city that I adore,” explains José, who promises the Belgrade audience another great night out, in a club that he says reminds him of some in New York.
Želim da se svi koji dođu na koncert dobro provedu, plešući uz moju muziku I want everyone that comes to the concert to have a good time, dancing to my music
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