Onra – Long Distance

for all the lovers out there, this album is for you.

Long Distance (feat. Olivier DaySoul)

Send Me Your Love

High Hopes (feat. Reggie B)

my comet (originally posted way back Feb 2009, i’m glad to see it find a new home on this album)

here is the full tracklist.  pick this one up, you won’t regret it!

01. Intro
02. My Comet
03. My Mind Is Gone (Ft. Oliver DaySoul)
04. Rock On
05. Sitting Back
06. High Hopes (Ft. Reggie B)
07. Girl
08. Send Me Your Love
09. We Out Buddy (Ft. Satvia)
10. Moving
11. Mechanical
12. Dont Stop
13. The One (ft T3 from Slum Village)
14. Opor8tor
15. Long Distance (Ft. OliverDaySoul)
16. Tape This
17. Track 17
18. To The Beat (Ft. Walter Mecca)
19. Jeeps
20. L.I.A.B.
21. Cherry (Outro)

Jose James

This week is all about voices, a silky smooth female pop voice from Pollyn and now a warm rich baritone from Jose James. Having supersaturated myself with in-your-face dubstep and dance music lately, it has been nice to step back and let jazz records take a spin.  So let me introduce Jose James, “The New Soul Singer for the Hip-Hop generation”.  

I heard Jose James first when I bought one of his 12″s a while back on a whim after seeing Flying Lotus in the production credits.  I was surprised, but pleasantly so, when I got the record to find out it was a soul jazz record rather than the usual leftfield beats I had come to expect from FlyLo production.  Having forgotten about this record I was pleased when I found it the other day and have been enjoying it all week.

His music is modern jazz with a hat tip towards hip hop and soul.  Love starts off with nothing but lovely rhodes and his whispering voice before fast drums and standup bass kick in to complete the sound.  Visions of Violet (produced by Flying Lotus) is more of a soul track with horns and melody breakdowns, the lyrics coaxing you to enjoy the night.  I played this track at Art-Life in December and it went over really well.

Jose James has done work with Jazzanova, Jazzy Sport, and Simbad amongst others and is signed to Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings (go figure).  His full length The Dreamer was put out last January and you can buy it here.  Also, if you like, a couple more tracks can be found on hypem, including the track with Jazzanova.  

So the next time you’re cooking a nice meal or trying to impress, pour yourself a glass of red and let these tracks play out. Enjoy! 

  

Jose James – Love

Jose James – Visions of Violet