Jose James Quartet The Dreamer

In the last post, I mentioned how much I liked The Dreamer by Jose James. He currently leads a quartet with Nori Ochiai - piano; Alexi David - bass and Steve Lyman - drums.

Jose is a vocalist, lyricist, and composer who has been leading jazz ensembles for the past twelve years. Inspired by the vocalists Billie Holiday and Bobby McFerrin, the jazz writing of Jon Hendricks and Kurt Elling, and by the composer/saxophonist John Coltrane.

Jose James's mentors have included the composer/multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart and the composer/pianist Carei Thomas of the AACM of Chicago; Black Arts Movement poet and writer Louis Alemayehu; and the composer/saxophonist Donald Washington (former mentor to saxophonist James Carter). His current mentors include the legendary Chicago jazz and blues pianist Junior Mance and the Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Janet Lawson.

Jose James recording credits include EMI Records International "Universidad Navidena" (2006), Brownswood Recordings "Brownswood Bubblers" (2006), and his forthcoming release "The Dreamer" on Brownswood Recordings (2007). He currently lives and works in New York City.

You can hear more of his music on his My Space