Jessy J burst onto
the contemporary jazz scene in 2008, blending her love for Latin rhythms and
jazz on her chart-topping, award-winning debut album Tequila Moon. Jessy earned
the Radio & Records’ ‘Debut Artist of The Year’ Award and Contemporary
Jazz ‘Song of the Year’ by both R&R and Billboard for the title track,
which held the #1 spot on the chart for eight weeks. The talented saxophonist,
pianist, singer and songwriter who has worked with everyone from The
Temptations to Michael Bublé, has been developing her musical voice since she
was very young, when she could be found practicing the saxophone, instead of
heading out to play with friends.
Words like
dedicated, focused and hard-working all describe her drive and motivation to
succeed and make music a life-long career. With her fourth release, Second
Chances, due out on Shanachie Entertainment on September 10, 2013, Jessy
reaches a major milestone as she takes over the reigns as the producer of the
new album. The set features collaborations with Grammy Award-nominated
keyboardist-producer Jeff Lorber, Grammy Award-winning guitarist Norman Brown,
renowned bassist Jimmy Haslip (formerly with The Yellowjackets) and legendary
pianist Joe Sample.
Second Chances
represents a new direction for Jessy as she purposely set out to meld her love
for jazz and Latin rhythms with R&B grooves. The album title, Second
Chances, developed out of the theme that it's never too late to try again and
“getting a second chance to do something that you messed up on the first time.”
She shares, “In this case, for me it was with something that happened the
previous year. I realized that this year I had a second chance and every day is
new, is fresh. The title track is really an inspirational song about doing
something you really want to do.” Not coincidentally, several of the songs on
the album include "two" in the title including the first single
"Listen 2 The Groove," co-written by Lorber, "Tango for
Two," "Dos," "Twice" and "Double Trouble."
The ten song set features eight originals and two beautiful covers including
the Roberta Flack hit “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the SĂ©rgio Mendes classic
“Magalenha.”
Jessy shares, “I
like to play music that people will recognize and connect to and be familiar
with and also play music that’s original, that really inspires them and creates
new memories.” She teamed with the talented trumpeter, singer, songwriter
Johnny Britt (Josh Groban, The Temptations, Impromp2) to write “Second Chances”
and the final track on the album “Twice.” She credits her manager, Stewart
Coxhead, with the idea to include the ‘two’ theme throughout the album and is
thankful for his encouragement as she turned over this new leaf in her career
saying, “he really encouraged me to be myself.”
Second Chances
opens with the single “Listen 2 The Groove” featuring Jeff Lorber on keyboards
and Jimmy Haslip on the bass. Jessy states, “Jeff Lorber and I first worked
together in 2008 for the Guitars and Saxes Tour. I really enjoy his musical
style. He’s such a legend in the business and has his own sound. To me he’s a
genius. So, when I had the opportunity to produce my own album, I really wanted
to work with him. I remembered we wrote and co-produced “Listen 2 The Groove”
and I just asked him if he wanted to work together. I was so excited he said
yes!” The sultry groove sets the tone for the album with its catchy hook and
unique song structure.
The title track
“Second Chances” features Grammy-Award winning guitarist Norman Brown. “Norman
Brown and I worked together for the Summer Storm tour 2010... I really love his style of playing. He’s very
unique in his guitar and I think he plays the guitar so fluidly. Johnny Britt
and I were working on “Second Chances” and I really wanted Norman to play on
it. His guitar sounds beautiful on the track.” Jessy chose to include the
Roberta Flack hit “Feel Like Makin’ Love” because, “I’m a big fan of 60s and
70s music. Roberta is a gorgeous singer. We felt that we could redo it in a way
that would make it special again and also make it more current. I always
thought of it kind of in a Robin Thicke mode with the recurring guitar theme.
It also has a Brazilian vibe, the vocals are laid back and almost in a hushed
tone. And it’s completely re-harmonized. I like arranging music and harmonizing
it.” Jessy’s longtime friend and bandmate Tim Stewart (who also tours and plays
with Lady Gaga) offers a beautiful guitar accompaniment on the track.
Her passion for
Latin music shines through on the SĂ©rgio Mendes classic “Magalenha,” one of her
all-time favorite Brazilian tunes. Jessy says it was real a “jam session vibe”
in the studio with Jeff and Jimmy helping to re-create the song as a “funk
samba” and their joy in recording it shines through. In addition to her excellent work on the
baritone saxophone and her sweet vocals on the tune, Jessy adds some tasty
flute flourishes. She explains, “The World Cup is coming up next year in Brazil
and it’s an homage to that and to my Latin heritage. Football is so popular in
the Latin community.” The set takes a sophisticated, jazzy turn with the third
song she wrote with Jeff and Jimmy, called “Tango For Two.” Jessy describes it
as “a romantic type of tango not an exact tango.” The dance beat features her
sax intertwining and twirling with the piano, as if someone is dancing,
reaching a climactic point and then it fizzles down again. Jessy was pleased to
have Jimmy work with her on the album as he brought a “very interesting
knowledge of Latin rhythms and a world music view. He recommended different
beats, rhythm and percussion” elements for the project.
On “Dos” a lovely
guitar intro gives way to Jessy on both flute and soprano saxophone. She shares,
“That song is a really sexy song. It’s about two things: the good and the bad.
Sections of the music had a reflective feeling that were dark and then other
parts of the music were light. We wanted to have the alter ego - two things.
One of my heroes is Grover Washington, Jr. He’s my favorite soprano saxophonist
and I always think of him when I’m playing that instrument.”
“La Luna Feliz”
features Jessy on tenor sax and flute while singing in Spanish. It opens with a
funky bass line from Bryant Siono to get you into the groove right way. “I like
to say that this is the prequel to “Tequila Moon,” explains Jessy.
“Tequila Moon” was
my first radio single and also my first CD in 2008. I like to look at the moon
at night, I don’t know why. It’s a thing I would do with my dad when I was
little. I was looking at the moon and it had a smiley face on it and it made me
laugh. I said ‘that’s a happy moon, it’s la luna feliz.’ And then the melody
popped into my head. It’s really the only Latin song, with no percussion, on
the album.”
Jessy says for this
project she was “really open to the idea of doing something different” and on
“Double Trouble” she definitely lets her hair down and jams! “I really got into
the whole Jeff vibe on this track and so the melody came out on my tenor
saxophone and he doubled it on the mini-moog, which made it sound really deep
and thick. The melody really flows and being the producer I could interpret the
music however I wanted to,” she shares. She originally wanted to name the song
“Doppelgänger” in honor of her German Shepard, Mini. When the two of them go
for walks together they often see another German Shepard on the block that
looks just like Mini and Jessy likes to joke it’s Mini’s doppelgänger! They
settled on “Double Trouble” (which Jessy co-produced with Lorber and Jimmy
Haslip) since Jeff and Jimmy are such good friends and bring their own version
of double trouble to the studio and this song.
Legendary
keyboardist Joe Sample is a friend and mentor to Jessy. The two first worked
together on her last album Hot Sauce. Joe helped her write the funky tune
“Mambo Gumbo,” her ode to New Orleans featuring Johnny Britt on vocals and
trumpet. She shares, “I love Joe Sample! I’ve been listening to him my whole
life... I told him about this song about New Orleans. We wrote parts of the
song together at the NAMM convention earlier this year. It’s a great track
about people and how they’re different but also the same.” “Twice” is a bright,
upbeat tune to close out the set, co-written with Johnny Britt. It features
Jessy on Tenor sax along with her touring bandmates Frank Abraham on bass,
Michael Angel on guitar and Richie “Gajate” Garcia on percussion. The song is
about how when you have the chance to do something the second time – twice – it’s
so much more beautiful. “It’s a positive feeling about reaching your goal and
doing it the way you wanted to.” The tune offers a great backbeat, sweet
percussion elements and backing vocals from Johnny.
Jessy’s connection
to her Latin heritage runs deep, as her father is originally from Mexico and
her mom hails from Texas. Born in Oregon and raised in southern California,
Jessy grew up in a home full of big family get-togethers, Mexican feasts and
lots of Latin, jazz and pop music. Her musical influences include Cannonball
Adderley, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Grover Washington, Jr., Sergio Mendes,
Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and she admires current artists Norah Jones, Diana
Krall and Alicia Keys. She credits her parents as her biggest influences as she
watched them “work so hard to come to the U.S., have careers and enjoy the
beautiful things this country has to offer. I knew I was going to work hard
from the beginning,” she shares.
While she was
studying at USC, she set her sights on becoming a studio musician, recording
music for movies, commercials and television shows but quickly learned she
needed to spend time getting more experience. She spent two years touring with
the off-Broadway, EMMY Award winning show Blast! While on that tour she started
focusing on performing with her own band, so she began writing her own music.
She returned to Los
Angeles and put together her first group featuring Bryant Siono on bass and
Norman Jackson on keyboards. In addition, she toured with Jessica Simpson, did
studio work with Michael Bublé and The Temptations, and was invited to tour
with Michael Bolton.
Jessy’s diligence
paid off when she met Grammy Award-winning smooth jazz producer Paul Brown at
the Newport Jazz Festival and he agreed to work on her debut album, Tequila
Moon in 2008. She followed that CD with True Love in 2009 and Hot Sauce in
2011. Last year Jessy was able to achieve her dream of becoming a studio
musician in Los Angeles, working on the hit television shows American Idol and
The Voice. Her work on American Idol impressed Steven Tyler, who invited Jessy
to record on the latest Aerosmith album.
Second Chances may
be all about getting the chance to do something over again, but for Jessy this
album is a celebration of firsts as well. She marks a major milestone in her
career taking on the role of producer of the album, plus she was able to work
with two new artists on her “wish list” via her collaborations with Jeff Lorber
and Norman Brown. Jessy has a lot to look forward to as she continues to enjoy
the success of her hard work and dedication. As she says, “It’s a great life
and I’m grateful for it. It’s going to be a good year!”
JESSY J - Tour
Dates
09/01 -
Albuquerque, NM @ Crowne Plaza
09/07 - Austin, TX
@ Riverbend Centre*
09/08 - San Diego,
CA @ Valley View Casino (KPRI Lites Out)
09/10 - Beverly
Hills, CA @ H.O.M.E. (CD Release Show)
09/14 - Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia @ KL Jazz Fest
09/22 - Temecula,
CA @ Thorton Winery**
09/28 - Las Vegas,
NV @ Las Vegas Jazz Fest
10/05 - San
Jacinto, CA @ Esplanade Arts Center
10/26 - Riverside,
CA @ Fox Perf Arts Center***
10/27 - Phoenix, AZ
@ Arizona Jazz Fest
11/06 - Seal Beach,
CA @ Spaghettini
11/30 - Seal Beach,
CA @ Spaghettini
12/06 - Bari, Italy
@ Italian Jazz Fest
01/04 - Chicago, IL
@ The Montrose Room
* w/ Marion Meadows
& Paul Taylor (Sax and the City)
** w/ George Benson
*** w/ Sheila E
JESSY J - Second
Chances
1. Listen 2 The
Groove (ft. Jeff Lorber)
2. Second Chances
(ft. Norman Brown)
3. Feel Like Makin'
Love
4. Magalenha
5. Tango For Two
6. Dos
7. La Luna Feliz
8. Double Trouble
(ft. Jeff Lorber & Jimmy Haslip)
9. Mambo Gumbo (ft.
Johnny Britt)
10. Twice
ONLINE
http://jessyj.com
http://twitter.com/jessyjsax
http://instagram.com/jessyjsax
http://www.facebook.com/Jessyjsax