I just found this pretty interesting interview (click) of Flying Lotus by Hanna from Hearty Magazine. I enjoyed reading it, so i advice you to go and read it.

Extract:

Are you producing for other people?

I’m trying to extend my reach a little bit—trying to work with other folks. But I do feel like my productions are like little children. I don’t wanna leave my kids with the wrong folks. Also I’m really concerned with vocals sometimes they give me stuff and its like, ‘I wasn’t even on this tip when I was making this tune.’ Which is sometimes great, but a lot of times I find it to be really negative and dark. I don’t really want my music going in that direction. Like even if it sounds like it’s that, there is more to it. I don’t want all that killing people and shit in my music.

That sounds pretty dark.

Well you know it’s kind of accepted now.

You think it is?

Yeah pretty much. Everyone loves 50 Cent, everyone is on that shit, that shit’s dark. Like a lot of the lyrics that I hear in hip hop are negative, that’s just the truth. I just want to work with people that are trying to do good and send out good vibrations on this earth. Seriously, there are enough negative forces out there. Even if they’re not killing people its juts like people who are making music that like kills culture and killing art and the idea of art and the idea of progression. All that shit is death.

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José James’s new album, “Blackmagic” will be released on January 30th. I had the great surprise to have it last December when we received (Free Your Funk Event) Gilles Peterson for a party, he discovered I was a fan of José James and so gave me a copy of the album, great christmas gift! Since I keep listening to it in the car and I can tell you “It’s a MUST-HAVE”! My favorite so far is “Code”, a song produced by Flying Lotus. The production goes perfectly with José James’s flow and words (you can find the lyrics after the jump). His flow on it is just so right, so perfect, so tight. This song really touch me deep inside, it has this feeling really deep, it’s almost like if a preacher where talking, you just want to stand up, drink every words he says and say yes. It’s deep music you can danse on, it’s just perfect.

José James – Code

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Click to read the lyrics

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I had this great news by Gilles Peterson the other day when he came djing to a Free Your Funk Party, José James is on Verve Records now! I was really happy about this news and José James just sent a email saying he was now sign on Verve Records. To be clear, José James is releasing “Blackmagic” on Brownswood on Feb 1st. I have the album and I highly recommend it! It’s soul, hip hop and a bit jazz with some good Flying Lotus’s productions. In May, he will release what seem to be a pure Jazz album “For All We Know“, on Verve, his new label.

I wanted to share with you the news that last month I signed to Verve Records.
[...] The first album will be out around May 2010 – an album of standards in duet with pianist Jef Neve called “For All We Know,” released on the historic Impulse imprint [...].

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NEWS : Here is a podcast of José James’s songs by Gilles Peterson. Here is the tracklist of this podcast with new songs : The Dreamer, Save your Love For me, Vijay Iver Trio : Mystic Brew (only song that is not from JJ – great tho!!), Touch, Blackmagic, Warrior and Dretoit Love Letter.

Here is the tracklisting of the upcoming album (January 2010) “Blackmagic“:
1 CODE (prod. by Flying Lotus)
2 TOUCH
3 LAY YOU DOWN (prod. by BILO)
4 PROMISE IN LOVE (prod. by DJ Mitsu the Beats)
5 WARRIOR
6 MADE FOR LOVE (prod. by Flying Lotus)
7 SAVE YOUR LOVE FOR ME
8 THE GREATER GOOD
9 BLACKMAGIC (prod. by Flying Lotus)
10 DETROIT LOVELETTER (prod. by Moodymann)
11 LOVE CONVERSATION feat. Jordana de Lovely (prod. by Taylor McFerrin)
12 BEAUTY
13 NO TELLIN’ (I NEED YOU)

I just realized that the website schememag.com wasn’t working anymore. I had done an interview of José James for this mag in early 2008 so I just wanted to put it back here.
I’ve seen José James for the first time in Paris in 2007 for a free show at La Flèche D’or. It was an amazing night with Soil and Pimp after José James’s show. The music was beautiful, the energy unique. When I was living in NYC in 2008, I’ve decided to contact again José James to do an interview of him, he nicely accepted it. We’ve met in NYC, at this time I didn’t really know the city as I was new there. If my memory is well, we’ve met in West 4 with his drummer at this time Steve Lyman and had a nice walk until we found an empty place to sit, eat and do the interview. I really like the energy of JJ, on stage and as a human being, it’s all about positive energy without avoiding the reality. Rare and unique artist, I am truly waiting for his new album in January “BlackMagic”.
Hope you will enjoy the reading.

Can you tell me more about your debuts? How did you start playing Jazz?
José James : One day I was listening to the Radio, I was like fourteen, « taking the A train » , and I’ve never really listened to big band’s stuff. All the Jazz I knew was very confusing, I didn’t understand it. And I heard this very powerful song, I got very excited. It was so much different from the hip hop of the 90’s that I was use to. And I really liked this thing it made me very happy. And then I heard Duke Elligton, Chalie Parker, so I bought those people. And I just listened to it over and over, for like a summer. And I said « whoah, i really like this music, it‘s interesting». But I didn’t think I wanted to do Jazz. I just liked to listen to it. Then, I just bought more and more album of everything, but a lot of jazz stuff, like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and I just sort of work my way through Nate King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Wes Montgomery, un till I got to John Coltrane, and when I heard that song « Equinox », I felt very passionate about it. And I was trying to find singers who are like sort of complementing the instrumentals too, like Lester Young and Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker. But when I heard John Coltrane, I couldn’t find any singer who could sing the same stuff. You have Betty Carter but she wasn’t as avant-garde. So I felt like there was something missing, and I couldn’t find any recording like « central park west », so I started writing lyrics to it because I started singing in high school a little bit. It was just for fun, not professionally, but then I started showing that to the people and they were very impressed. So I started performing really at seventeen and became very serious about jazz and John Coltrane, I would do « equinox », I would do « Mingus » just stuff like that. But also « Blackeyesusan , “summertime”. So that’s how I started it.

Why did you choose to do a jazz album as a first musical project? Knowing that you told us 2 months ago you were planning on doing a soul record? Did you want to introduce yourself as a jazz singer? Read more

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Did I talk to you about José James? Joke… I know I talk a lot about him but he deserves it! José James just put some news songs on his myspace page. Since this weekend I listen to “Love Conversation” again and again. José James invited Jordana De Lovely to joint him on a song produced by Taylor Mcferrin! The bad new is that José James had change the release date of Blackmagic and the album will not longer be release on oct 26th but in January! By then, José might have put every songs on his myspace as he did with The Dreamer!
For the picture, I just had some fun this weekend doing this simple thing, nothing serious!

José James feat Jordana De Lovely – Love Conversation produced by Taylor Mcferrin

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José James – Lay You Down

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Version Française

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Flying Lotus dropped the final EP of the LA series; 3×3. Seven tracks in which you will find some remixes from friends of him. The tracks are more minimalist than the others of the serie. It’s a slow and king of lounge ambiance. For instance, compare the track “Parisian Goldfish” remix by Take and the original version, you will understand what I am saying. My favorites tracks are “Auntie’s Harp” (you have to listen as well Auntie’s Lock that is just AMAZING) and “Infinitum”.

Infinitum (Dimilite’s Re-finitum)

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Auntie’s Harp (Rebekah Raff Remix

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Flying Lotus clôture enfin la série LA avec the final chapter, 3×3. Sept morceaux contenant aussi des remixes d’amis. Ce chapitre final est beaucoup plus minimaliste et calme que les précédents, avec une ambiance dirons-nous Lounge, en quelque sorte. Il suffit pour cela de comparer le remix de Take “Parisians Goldfish” à l’original et vous comprendrez. Mes morceaux préférés sont “Auntie’s Harp” (vous devez vraiment écouter “Auntie’s Lock qui est juste génial) et “Infinitum”.

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José James – BlackMagic produit par Flying Lotus

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José James – Beauty feat Jordana de Lovely

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José James – Lay You Down

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BlackMagic est le nom du prochain album de José James officiellement (il était temps) annoncé pour le 26 Octobre. José James ne s’est pas contenté de nous informer de la date de sorti mais a aussi proposé deux nouveaux morceaux en écoute (l’un par son producteur favori actuel et vivant, Flying Lotus), plus un descriptif de ce prochain album. Read the rest of this entry »

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