Anteprima

NEXT ALBUM (2027): JOSÉ JAMES SINGS SINATRA

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

José James is both conductor and conduit. Across 17 years as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and producer — not to mention co-head of the fearless Rainbow Blonde Records since 2018 — he’s dived deep, 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 a master practitioner.

Blessed with a silken baritone that sounds classic against any backdrop, James first turned heads on his 2008 debut The Dreamer by subtly swirling contemporary jazz with hip-hop instrumentation. As it turned out, mixing those two fluid, frenetic, and frequently time-travelling strains set off a deeply soulful discography that knows no bounds. There was his stunning Blue Note breakthrough No Beginning No End (2013), recorded with fellow genre upsetters like Pino Palladino and Robert Glasper.

There was an album of standards, For All We Know (2010); the rock-addled While You Were Sleeping (2014); and that time he ditched the bands and became a modern R&B star for Love in a Time of Madness (2017). He’s also taken a Method approach to covers 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 hooky, funky, disco-dipped songcraft of the ’70s, culminating in his latest, 1978: Revenge of the Dragon (2025). That last one is as immediate, unpredictable, and vibrant as anything James has made, affirming the mantra in the lead single’s title: “They Sleep, We Grind".

In 2026, José James brings a timeless classic back to life with The 50th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, a tribute to one of the most sensual and innovative albums in music history. To bring this project to the stage, he is joined by singer China Moses and a handpicked group of musicians: Marcus Machado on guitar, BIGYUKI on piano, Parker McAllister on bass, and Jharis Yokley on drums.

In Spring 2027, James will release his 14th studio album The Best Is Yet to Come, a groundbreaking reexamination of one of America's greatest voices - Frank Sinatra - from the most exciting male jazz singer of the moment. For internationally renowned jazz singer José James, this project is fate. In 2016, James was called by Universal Pictures to perform Sinatra's version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" for the blockbuster film 50 Shades Darker. James—a devoted student of Sinatra—accepted the role and soon found himself in the hallowed halls of Capitol's Studio B, behind the very microphone Sinatra used to record his most celebrated catalog for Capitol Records.

For José James, this project is a reclamation—both live and on record—of Sinatra's brilliance as a jazz singer, a rhythmic improviser from the schools of Billie Holiday and Tommy Dorsey. With big band arrangements by the legendary John Clayton, this is no mere nostalgia trip, but a deeper look into the craft and mastery of the Chairman of the Board.