Boney James and Lalah Hathaway

Flytjendur

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  Boney James

  It’s been a full quarter-century since a young saxophonist and composer released his debut recording as a leader, Trust. On September 1, 2017, Boney James released his 16th album, this one titled Honestly. If you sense a direct line between those titles, you’ve already come a long way toward understanding what motivates the four-time GRAMMY nominee and multi-platinum-selling musician.

  “I’m fighting the good fight to be my own artist and not be pigeonholed,” says the genre-blurring James. “With a record’s title I always try to find something that will communicate the feeling I get when I listen to it. The feeling I get with this music is a sense of sincerity and intimacy. The word ‘honestly’ really reflects how I aspire to live my life and create my music. These are interesting times we are living in and the one thing I can do with the skills that I have is to make music that evokes a feeling and takes people somewhere… to do what I can to try and make the world a more pleasant place.”

  Honestly follows futuresoul, James’ 2015 release which spent eleven weeks at #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. The New York Times raved, “Boney James performs with panache...His arc as a soloist is emotional...he can paint a scene.” Honestly, says James, is quite different sounding than the previous record. “It’s more exposed,” he says of the 10-track collection. “A number of the songs have a more buoyant, cheerful, happy quality to them.” James produced the record and co-wrote all but one track, his interpretation of the Johnny Mercer-Hoagy Carmichael classic ‘Skylark.’

  His skill as a performer as well as a recording artist garnered this notice from the Boston Globe, “James swaggered across the stage like a blacktop hero draining treys on an over-matched opponent. He even weaved his way through the audience, never missing a beat and all but daring the crowd not to have a good time."

  Over the years, James has racked up sales of more than three million records, four RIAA gold albums, four GRAMMY nominations, a Soul Train Award, nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and 10 CDs atop Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. In 2009, Billboard named him one of the Top 3 Contemporary Jazz Artists Of The Decade along with Kenny G and Norah Jones.

  With Honestly, as with futuresoul and the GRAMMY-nominated The Beat before it, Boney James is making some of the most stellar, wholly realized music of his career. “I’ve just grown up, personally and musically,” he says. “I’m a lot calmer now when I approach making music and have more confidence. I’m a “give-110 percent” kind of person and I’m enjoying the process more now. I think that comes out in the music. Maybe that’s why this new record is so much fun to listen to. There are parts on the record that still make me smile.”

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  Lalah Hathaway

  Five-time Grammy winner Lalah Hathaway shares the record with Beyoncé for the most ‘Best Traditional R&B Performance’ awards won at the Grammys, each holding three. A sought-after collaborator to some of today’s top hitmakers, undeniable music royalty, and unmatched vocal abilities, Lalah Hathaway is an artist, singer/songwriter and producer not to be slept on. A purveyor of many genres, Lalah’s seven solo albums are complemented by an illustrious track-record of collaborations with the likes of Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Anderson. Paak, Robert Glasper, Rapsody, Snoop Dogg, Esperanza Spalding and more. Her talents have inspired invitations to the stage from music legends, Prince, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock to name a few. As daughter to the late, great Donny Hathaway, Chicago-born and raised Lalah Hathaway has the most soulful of music running through her veins.