José James releases his first ever Christmas album Merry Christmas from José James today. In addition to the album release, José also premieres the official performance video for the original track "Christmas in New York.”
Listen here: rainbowblonde.co/merrychristmas
Listeners can find two original tracks, “Christmas in New York” and “Christmas Day” along with popular ballads such as “The Christmas Song,” “White Christmas,” “Let it Snow” and “This Christmas,” a modern twist on the Donny Hathaway holiday favorite. In James' version, he musically brings an aspect of R&B and hip-hop, rounding out the mostly jazz collection.
Songwriting for the project was spearheaded by José James and his partner, recently Grammy nominated Talia Billig. The album’s studio band features Grammy winning and nominated all stars Ben Williams (bass), Aaron Parks (piano), Jharis Yokley (drums) and Marcus Strickland (soprano saxophone). Produced by José James and Brian Bender and recorded by Ariel Shafir at Dreamland Studios, the album was mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios. The session was recorded completely live on 2” tape and mixed in LCR (left-center-right) by Brian Bender at Motherbrain West.
“It’s the perfect album to put on whenever there’s a certain spirit in the air,” James says. “I hope that people can feel a little bit of the joy and the wonder, year round, that 8-year-old José felt, not only about Christmas and all the obvious things—the ornaments, the tree, the holiday season—but also the music,” he continued.
A 13 date tour to support the album will launch at SF Jazz in San Francisco on November 27th and conclude at New York’s City Winery on December 14th. Stops also include Seattle, Portland, Santa Cruz, LA, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Minneapolis and Chicago. (All tour dates listed below).
Tour Dates
November 27 – SF Jazz – San Francisco, CA
November 28 – SF Jazz – San Francisco, CA
November 30 – Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA
December 1 – Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA
December 2 – The Old Church – Portland, OR
December 4 – Kuumbwa – Santa Cruz
December 5 – Masonic Lodge – Los Angeles, CA
December 7– MIM – Phoenix, AZ
December 9 –The Lensic – Santa Fe,
December 11 – Dakota – Minneapolis, MN
December 12 – Dakota – Minneapolis, MN
December 13 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
December 14 – City Winery – New York, NY