José James is both conductor and conduit. Across 17 years as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and producer — not to mention co-head of Rainbow Blonde Records since 2018 — he has explored and reimagined past music genres and created some of his own. James is the featured artist who will perform with bassist John Brown and the NC Coltrane All-Star Band on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025 at the John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival.
MASTER PRACTITIONER
He has taken a deep dive, over and over again, into genres, eras, scenes, and songbooks, exploring with the verve of a reverent musicologist, and then churning it all up with the confidence of the master practitioner that he is.
James’ journey began at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he honed his craft before making waves in 2008 with The Dreamer, his debut album on which he subtly blended contemporary jazz with hip-hop instrumentation. James quickly established himself as a fresh voice in jazz, one unafraid to experiment. His follow-up, Blackmagic, continued this trajectory, incorporating electronic elements and hip-hop beats, proving that jazz could evolve while keeping its soul.
‘METHOD’ APPROACH
There was his stunning breakthrough released on Blue Note Records No Beginning No End (2013), where fellow genre up-setters like Pino Palladino and Robert Glasper embraced an album of jazz standards, For All We Know (2010). He took a ‘Method’ approach to cover projects — even matching his wardrobe to his subjects’ worlds — like 2015’s Yesterday I Had the Blues (Billie Holiday), 2018’s Lean On Me (Bill Withers), and 2023’s On & On (Erykah Badu).
He’s released dynamic live LPs, a Christmas set, and a four-album series inspired by the hooky, funky, disco-dipped songcraft of the ’70s, culminating in his latest release, 1978: Revenge of the Dragon (2025).
For fans of contemporary jazz and where it is going, José James is more than a musician, he’s a movement, proving that jazz is a living, breathing art form that continues to evolve.
