Billy Valentine

NEW ALBUM : BILLY VALENTINE & THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH

Now with an illustrious and multifaceted career that spans more than 50 years, veteran singer and songwriter Billy Valentine is ready to be reintroduced to world with his glowing new album, Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth, reactivating the iconic jazz label, Flying Dutchman.

The making of this album seems to have started more than 30 years ago. In the late 80s, Valentine had recently ended his partnership with his brother John. Together, they’d performed, toured and recorded as the Valentine Brothers. Billy’s recognition as a songwriter emerged after penning songs for other artists such as, Ray Charles, and the Neville Brothers. After the demise of the Valentine Brothers, he struck a songwriting partnership with Thiele, Jr., which led to him singing demos for Warner Chappell songwriters, such as Gerry Goffin, Mark Isham, Burt Bacharach, and Hal David. 

Possessing an empathic, lissome voice, Valentine draws upon the soul-jazz legacy of such iconic Flying Dutchman singer and songwriters as Gil Scott-Heron and Leon Thomas, on his new album as he delivers testifying renditions of message songs originally recorded and written by Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Kendricks, War, Prince – and of course, Scott-Heron and Thomas. 

Although the songs on the album were written decades ago, Valentine ties many of their specific topics and themes to modern times, particularly the rise of the Back Lives Matter movement. “All of these songs speak to everything that we are going through now,” Valentine explains. “It feels like history is repeating itself. Once I stepped into these songs, beautiful things happened, because I’ve studied each of them. With each song, I was able to find a place within my soul.”

Produced by Bob Thiele, Jr., the album features an array of jazz luminaries that included tenor saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, trumpeter Theo Croker, bassist Linda May Han Oh, guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, percussionist Alex Acuña, pianist/keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist Pino Palladino, and drummer James Gadsen, among others.