Solid is the
four-time GRAMMY nominated saxophonist’s seventeenth album as a leader and will
be released by Concord Records, April 17, 2020. Solid follows up his smash 2017
release Honestly which became his eleventh #1 Billboard Contemporary Jazz
Album.
Sometimes,
inspiration is slow in coming, evasive and stubborn. Other times, if an artist
is very fortunate, it simply flows, the music practically writing itself.
That’s how Solid, the latest release from Boney James came to be. “This record
really flowed at an unusually quick pace,” Boney says. “There was a lot of
positive energy in making this music. Solid is a very upbeat record. As I was
writing them, these songs put a smile on my face.”
All of
Solid’s eleven tracks were produced and written or co-written by James. Three
songs—“Full Effect,” “Tonic” and the title track—were built from licks played
at sound-check by touring guitarist Kendall Gilder on the road in support of
Honestly. “I said, hey, what’s that riff you’re playing?” James recalls, “And
Kendall said, ‘that’s just something I’m messing around with.’ I got my iPhone
and recorded them, then took it home and wrote the songs!”
Four other
songs were initiated by longtime James collaborator, acclaimed writer/producer
Jairus ‘J-Mo’ Mozee (Anderson Paak, Nicki Minaj, Anthony Hamilton). One of
those, “Be Here,” was ultimately transformed into Solid’s Adult Urban single
featuring special guest Kenny Lattimore, best known for his Top 10 R&B hit
“For You.”
Says James,
“We met at the Soul Train Awards twenty years ago and he said, ‘Some day we
need to work together!’ As I was working on ‘Be Here’, I started to hear his
voice in my head. I reached out to him and he wrote and recorded the lyrics.
It’s such a romantic song and it really reinforced the theme of the record,
strong and positive relationships.”
James
crafted many of the song titles (“Fresh Air”, “On The Path”, “Tonic)” to play
off this theme, “Similar to my last CD Honestly, this new music is a reaction
to how stressful the world feels these days. Music is a respite, it’s always
‘solid’ and it never lets me down.”
Boney James’
personal relationship with music has never been anything but solid. Picking up
the sax at age 10 in his native New Rochelle, New York, “I immediately loved
it, and it pretty quickly became my favorite thing to do.” By the time he
entered his teens, James was gigging with bands, and he turned pro at 19. He
apprenticed as a sideman for artists like Morris Day, The Isley Brothers, Teena
Marie and many others, touring and doing sessions for seven years before
cutting his first solo album in 1992. The independently released Trust led
immediately to a major label deal and a string of increasingly successful
recordings and nonstop touring.
Now a
four-time GRAMMY nominee with four RIAA Gold records and career sales topping
three million units, James continues to defy musical genres; A two time NAACP
Award nominee, a Soul Train Award winner and named one of the Top 3 Billboard
Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Decade.
James, who
lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 34 years Director/Actress Lily Mariye,
says he’s looking forward to heading out on the road and seeing how the Solid
material evolves from night to night. “I love playing live, maybe more than I
ever did. A lot of guys get tired of the traveling but it’s still a joy for me
every time I go out there and play.”
It’s still a
joy to his multitude of fans too. “I try to ‘be there’ for the people who are
interested in my music,” says James, “to be Solid in that relationship and to
not let anybody down. I often get great compliments from the people that come
to my shows, that I ‘never disappoint’ them, and that’s very gratifying to me.
That’s what I was trying to express with this title, that sense of character…
to stand for something principled.”
Facebook:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/boneyjames
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Boney James
“Solid 2020” Tour Dates
- Feb 14 / Long Beach Terrace Theater – Long Beach, CA
- Mar 14 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 15 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 16 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 17 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 18 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 19 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 20 / Smooth Jazz Cruise – Miami, FL
- Mar 27 / Earl Klugh’s Weekend Of Jazz At The Broadmoor – Colorado Springs, CO
- Apr 03 / Berks Jazz Fest/Scottish Rite Cathedral PAC – Reading, PA
- Apr 24 / Koger Center For The Arts – Columbia, SC
- Apr 25 / Seabreeze Jazz Festival/Aaron Bessant Amph. – Panama City Beach, FL
- Apr 26 / Southwest Florida Event Center – Bonita Springs, FL
- May 01 / Los Cabos Jazz Festival – Cabo San Lucas, MX
- May 06 / Sony Hall – New York, NY
- May 07 / NJPAC – Newark, NJ
- May 08 / Scottish Rite Auditorium – Collingswood, NJ
- May 09 / John Lyman Center For The Performing Arts – New Haven, CT
- May 10 / City Winery – Boston, MA
- Jun 11 / Napa Valley Jazz Getaway/Lincoln Theater – Yountville, CA
- Jul 11 / Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre – Mableton, GA
- Jul 17 / Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA
- Jul 18 / Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA
- Jul 19 / Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA
- Jul 23 / Motor City Casino – Detroit, MI
- Jul 24 / Horseshoe Casino – Hammond, IN
- Jul 25 / Fitzgerald Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
- Aug 30 / Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA
- Sep 05 / Gulf Coast Summerfest – Pensacola,
- Sep 11 / Midland Theatre – Kansas City, MO
- Sep 13 / City Winery – Nashville, TN
- Sep 16 / Capitol Theatre – Clearwater, FL
- Sep 17 / The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL
- Sep 19 / N. Charleston Performing Arts Center – N. Charleston, SC
- Sep 20 / Meymandi Performing Arts Center – Raleigh, NC
- Sep 25 / The Clyde Theatre – Fort Wayne, IN
- Sep 26 / Murat Theatre – Indianapolis, IN
- Sep 27 / Palace Theatre – Louisville, KY
- Oct 01 / Taft Theatre – Cincinnati, OH
- Oct 02 / Lincoln Theatre – Columbus, OH
- Oct 03 / Ohio Theatre – Cleveland, OH
- Oct 16 / Rams Head On-Stage – Annapolis, MD
- Oct 17 / Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival – Rehoboth Beach, DE
- Oct 20 / Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
- Oct 21 / Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
- Oct 23 / Knight Theater – Charlotte, NC
- Nov 14 / Fox Theatre – Tucson, AZ
- Nov 19 / House of Blues Dallas – Dallas, TX
- Nov 20 / One World Theatre – Austin, TX
- Nov 21 / House of Blues Houston – Houston, TX
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