For All We Know

In 2004, an unknown vocalist from Minneapolis named José James was a surprise finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocalist Competition. The winner that year was Gretchen Parlato, who has since become one of her generation’s most acclaimed artists. It might be a crowded field, but James, now 31, has been busy garnering high praise (at least in Europe) with his first recordings, 2008’s The Dreamer (named one of the year’s best by Jazz Times) and 2010’s Black Magic, both filled with original compositions with hip-hop and soul touches and, on the latter, an infusion of electronica. But it’s his latest release on Impulse, For All We Know, that has attracted serious attention as well as some surprise in the U.S. A set of duets with Belgian pianist Jef Neve, For All We Know makes perfect sense to James, whose early inspiration was Nat King Cole. “I am a jazz singer at heart so this project was inevitable’” notes José. “As [Twin Cities keyboard great] Carei Thomas once told me, the thing that was great about Trane is that, no matter how far out he went, he could always turn around and play ‘Body and Soul,’ and that stayed with me.” And it will stay with anyone fortunate enough to hear this album. 

For All We Know  includes nine standards from jazz and popular repertoire which James and Neve recorded themselves (all first takes) as an “artists’ record,” without considering that it might be picked up by a label like Impulse. The broad appeal of this project lies in the selection of timeless tunes with new interpretative twists, as if each song was written in this century, and could only be sung by one with an affinity for both Coltrane and Cole. And Jef Neve isn’t merely an accompanist, but rather offers his own abstract counterpoint, which only works when a singer has unflappable pitch control and when the two musicians—as two poets-- think with one mind. The result is not only the most technically and artistically brilliant vocal album I’ve heard from this generation—male or female—but most definitely the most unpretentiously seductive. 

Jose James©Andrea Canter

To anyone buying music one track at a time through I-Tunes, zero in on “Body and Soul.” It doesn’t matter how many versions you have heard. This is the one. José takes the first verse a cappella, joined most gently by Neve. The pianist’s lines become increasingly abstract such that we have two artists creating new music while at the same time honoring a revered standard. Neve’s solo journey is reminiscent of Marilyn Crispell, like tinkling ice crystals warmed by the sun. James returns with a near a capella finish. 

James gives “When I Fall in Love” an interesting start, singing the latter part of the verse rather than from the beginning, as if an instrumental introduction.  It’s Neve who (solo) offers the melody from the first bar, but his harmonization quickly takes the tune out of Lettermen territory, Jose returning to transform the sugar-coated love song into a personal promise. The pace is luxuriously slow, the spaces in the melody line filled by Neve’s increasingly bold strokes until they return to Earth, together, gently.  

Jef Neve©Hans Speekenbrink

The duo first presented “Lush Life” on Neve’s radio show, and the pianist opens here with a thundering set of zings, continuing into an extended prelude that warns of the darkness to come. And it comes with José; Strayhorn and Ellington could not have conjured a more perfectly rendered, haunting, ultimately heartbreaking interpretation. Again providing the emotional as well as musical introduction, Neve’s languid lines set the stage for the title track and José’s introspective finale. 

Given his last three projects and the upcoming release of his Coltrane ensemble’s live recording, Facing East (due early 2011), the next decade promises to be full of surprises from José James. Or maybe not. He’s already demonstrated that he is as comfortable with Gershwin and Ellington as with Coltrane and beyond, able to assimilate past and future in a single phrase. We should expect that he will continue to give us stunning and unwaveringly original music for many years to come. Hopefully that will include more projects with Jef Neve.

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