In addition to the talent that was given to José James in his Irish-Panamanian heritage, his graduation from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, located in New York's legendary Greenwich Village neighborhood, where he has been a musician for more than half a century, also makes him a highly accomplished musician. He made his independent debut in 2008 with The Dreamer, an album that captivated listeners and critics alike. And not surprisingly, his gradual journey has led him to two release ports coveted by all the jazzmen of the world. First to the label Impulse! Records and then Blue Note Records, for which he recorded five albums before he and his wife (the well-known singer Taali) founded their own Rainbow Blonde Records.
José James is truly a genre-spanning artist to the max. Like few others, he can combine nimble hip-hop rhythms and jazz harmonies into a completely natural whole. The musical legacy of his predecessors, or rather predecessors' predecessors, which he finds extremely inspiring and enjoys exploring their music, is a testament to his range. In 2015, he released Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday, an album of songs from the repertoire of one of the greatest jazz singers of the 20th century, Billie Holiday. And his latest album so far, titled On & On, which was released last year, is again a tribute to singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. "For my generation, Erykah Badu was one of the most innovative and insightful songwriters. Her work has proven to be groundbreaking in a social, musical and artistic sense," says José James.
In the past, he has collaborated with an absolutely wide range of musicians, whether it was the now-defunct pianist and modern jazz classic McCoy Tyner, or contemporary progressives Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper or Erik Truffaz. José James is simply exactly what any at least slightly non-dogmatic listener would like all musicians to be: multi-talented, able not only to play and sing anything, but also to put in a big chunk of his own unmistakable feeling.