JOSE JAMES - Blackmagic

Flying Lotus, Gideon Van Gelder, Alex Bilowitz, DJ. Mitsu The Beats, Richard Spaven, Moodyman, Taylor McFerrin, Jordana De Lovely are the producers involved in the new sonic guise of the black music revelation, José James, confirmed by the excellent debut “The Dreamer“.

The artist's versatile voice, after crossing paths with the variety of jazz and blues solutions, challenges modernity and classicism, giving rise to modern sounds with engaging, sensual traits.

Hip-hop and drum'n'bass were already creeping into the folds of the sound on the debut album; the reworking of "Park Bench People" already showed José James's ability to create perfect crossovers between the dancefloor and the bed-sofa-sound. On the new album the spell is cast again with "Lay You Down": the track, with its vocal riff set against horns and bass, stakes a claim as one of the most sensual songs of recent years, and convinces the listener to dig deeper into the sprawling whole of "Blackmagic".

It's surprising that the most adventurous track, "The Warrior", is produced by José James himself: the use of electronics is unsettling, the rhythmic tremor shakes and rouses the listener from the normality of soul present elsewhere, pushing past the musician's vocal boundaries and creating a new benchmark for sonic emphasis.

Even the more predictable, well-known "Save Your Love For Me" and "Made For Love" give off an intensity rarely found in modern soul; the notes rich in dissonance on "Touch" allow the artist to write an interesting chapter in the D'Angelo tradition with verve and class, but it's jazz that holds the compositions together, even in the stylistic marriage with Detroit house on the supple, refined "Detroit Loveletter" and on the velvety two-voice ballad (with Jordana De Lovely) "Love Conversation", destined to become a classic.

José James's voice is rich in nuance, yet stays on natural, instinctive tones that make everything even more compelling. Even in its more relaxed moments the music loses none of its charm: "Beauty" takes on soul's more romantic side, leaving "No Tellin'" to deliver its most anguished, twilit portrait.

"Blackmagic" leaves no vibration of Black music untouched, while the opening "Code", combining excellent bass textures with hip-hop, restores to jazz its adventurous streak, capable of drawing out innovative, gripping solutions.

Still more hip-hop on "Promise In Love", though it's soul in the vein of Grover Washington and Bobby Caldwell that holds the reins. Soul resurfaces on the more classic ballad "The Greater Good", sensual and refined as ever.

José renews his more distinctly jazz approach with two excellent performances: the first is the title track "Blackmagic", a lively succession of mid-tempos, breaks and fragments of notes that produces a psychedelic effect not heard since the days of Norman Whitfield; the other is the untitled bonus track, which over ten minutes brings back all the magic of the debut with delicate, twilit tones that let the band express the full range of its creativity.

Alongside the return of Gil Scott Heron, José James's new album is the best thing that could have happened to black music this year.

"Blackmagic" not only confirms the excellent credentials of the debut, but also puts the spotlight on a sonic contamination that's still largely unexplored.

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10/06/2010