Keyon Harrold - Foreverland

Keyon Harrold has announced his new album Foreverland, out January 19 on Concord Jazz. A “world class trumpeter” (Essence) and composer, Harrold has performed on a host of GRAMMY-winning projects, and has been widely celebrated for his ability to transcend jazz, R&B, hip-hop and pop with his singular sound, positioning him as go-to performer for a who’s-who of stars: Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, Mac Miller, and Snoop Dogg to name a few. Foreverland features 10 timely and timeless original compositions that explore themes of empowerment, positivity, love, loss, and vulnerability. The album’s guests include Laura Mvula and Malaya, along with GRAMMY-winning artists Common, Robert Glasper, PJ Morton, Jean Baylor, Chris Dave, and legendary musician Greg Phillinganes. The vinyl version of Foreverland will be released March 1. 

Today Harrold has released “Find Your Peace” (Single Edit), featuring longtime collaborators Common, Robert Glasper and vocalist Jean Baylor. Harrold sings on the track as well. 

“'Find Your Peace' is my ode to finding everlasting happiness in the most aggressive, intentional, thoughtful ways,” says Harrold. “For some it’s found in religion. Others seek peace in rituals, rest, reflection, meditations; love and loved ones; getting lost in books; or lost and found in nature. It’s all part of the lifelong search to find that internal stillness, that eternal peace. Finding that stillness in the troubled waters of life is both the challenge and the goal.”

Foreverland is proudly emotional and dramatic, a triumphant journey that takes the listener through the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful experiences that lead to wisdom. Says Harrold: “What I can offer as a musician who plays an instrument with no words is an honest conveyance of emotion. Some of these notes, I play them because there’s not a better word.”    

Before he set out to make the album, Harrold found himself stuck in the doldrums of the pandemic lockdown, and a birthday that found him adrift. Personal challenges left him exhausted, including the passing of his mother, and the racially charged assault of his 14-year-old son that became part of the national news cycle. 

He broke through the creative block in a most surprising way: a trip to Vegas. But Harrold passed up the slots for the studio, and was invigorated from playing with his musical family after months of isolation. The sessions enabled him to tap into a deeper space of creativity, turning his pain into power that brought his music to a new level. A profound awakening with each note he played, he emerged with a renewed creative spirit not felt in years. Harrold then brought the raw emotion of the Vegas sessions into focus by creating a vivid tapestry of melody, harmony, and instrumental improvisations. Harrold’s most provocative work to date is laced with sultry tempos, sensual vocals, and rich tones that maximize the album’s expressive intentions. He cites a wide-ranging list of inspirations, from Radiohead and Fela Kuti to Coltrane and Fleet Foxes, and the album’s collaborators helped Foreverlandcoalesce into some of the most exciting work of his career. 

“Find Your Peace” - a mashup of jazz, hip-hop and R&B - sets the tone for the album, with the opening lyrics “Gotta find that peace of mind / can’t control things outside,” serving as a mantra. “Beautiful Day” featuring PJ Morton radiates joy over a quick-paced samba with a touch of distortion fuzz. Instrumentals include “The Intellectual,” Harrold dazzling on trumpet over a slow burning groove, and the hard-charging “Gotta Go (Outer Space).” In August, Harrold released the R&B-heavy “Don’t Lie” featuring the lush vocals of Malaya.  

Foreverland is a family affair — nearly every musician is a longtime friend, and Harrold accounts the record’s warmness to this dynamic. “It’s like the ingredients of a great meal: you don’t need just any pepper, you need a certain kind. Every musician on this record is a rare and essential element.” The lineup includes Chris Dave and Marcus Gilmore on drums, Nir Felder, Randy Runyon and Justus West on guitar, Burniss “Boom” Travis and Brandon Owens on bass, Greg Phillinganes, BIGYUKI, Shedrick Mitchell and Jahari Stampley on piano/keyboards, and Jahi Sundance on turntables. In addition to singing on “Find Your Peace,” Harrold also sings or speaks on four other tracks. 

Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO to a musical family - the son of pastors and one of 16 children, and moved to New York to study at The Mannes Conservatory of Music at The New School. While there he landed his first major gig with Common, an experience which he says broadened his musical horizons beyond jazz to include funk, Afrobeat, R&B, and hip hop. He released his solo album, Introducing Keyon Harrold, in 2009, and then won wide acclaim for his trumpet performances in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, which featured him on the GRAMMY-winning soundtrack for the film. 2017’s The Mugicianfeatured Pharoahe Monch, Gary Clark, Jr., Big K.R.I.T., Guy Torry, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Robert Glasper. It was praised by the NY Times as "a stirring piece that consolidates elegy and exhortation" and AllMusic celebrated the album’s “alchemical swagger.” Hailed as “the future of the trumpet” by Wynton Marsalis, Harrold has toured the globe, playing the world’s top venues and festival stages, and will be touring extensively over the next year.