Description:
"For All We Know" is a collaboration between Jose James and noted Belgian pianist Jef Neve which finds the charismatic young vocalist applying his warm, rich baritone to a sterling assortment of timeless jazz and pop standards. The result is an eloquently spare, effortlessly expressive set, with James' vivid performances and the intimate duo format lending new emotional depth to such beloved classics as "Tenderly", "Body and Soul", "Everyday I Have the Blues, Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" and George and Ira Gershwin's "Embraceable You".
Recorded on 180 gram heavy weight vinyl to ensure quality sound, packaged in gatefold cover, and covered by premium protective vinyl outer sleeve.
The 'Play 33 1/3 LP Series' is a 1st LP issue project of the masterpiece albums which have never been released on vinyl LP. The album cover and package created after months of graphic work and processes by hand enhanced its excellence and to ensure the record's superb sound quality, the German MMP, who undertook the record production of EMI Germany and Universal, utilized a heavy weight 180 gram vinyl LP to contain the sound. Khiov who was in charge of the planning and production of many LP miniature series took charge of the album cover production spending 6 months to create a masterpiece. You will have a chance to experience great analogue sounds and to enjoy splendid artworks through the series.
This project was highly scrutinized passing rigid testing at the factory in Germany. Even the performers themselves had not been able to put their hands on the LP version of their own albums as their home country had not produced them. The LPs produced by this project certainly have become must-have items by LP lovers all around the world.
In the age where faster and more convenient is thought to be better, the increase in demand for the retro vinyl LP worldwide is clearly attributed to the satisfaction from the sound offered by analog products impossible to be replicated by CD and digital products and the delight of touching, feeling, and possessing this masterpiece-like large artwork. Furthermore, LP records have both rarity and history that increase their value over time and serve as an attractive factor for collectors.
"Fans of vocalist Jose James have hardly had time to catch their breath in 2010. His new-school R&B album Blackmagic (a sophomore effort released in March 2010 on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood imprint) was still being fired by DJs in clubs and on European and Japanese radio, while garnering acclaim globally. Barely two months later, James popped this set out in May. 'For All We Know' is a duet recording with Belgian jazz pianist Jef Neve. It's James' first album to be released in the United States his home country and the first of newly recorded material on Impulse! Records in six years. Musically, this set couldnt be more different from his two preceding offerings. There are no star productions by Flying Lotus, Nicola Conte, Moodymann, or Jazzanova this time out. This intimate nine-track collection of standards from the Great American Songbook was produced by the duo who made it. All but one cut was recorded in a single six-hour session, and the majority of these performances are first takes. This is a pure jazz recording. James and Neve pull out heavy hitters from the repertoire, "Autumn in New York", the Gershwins' "Embraceable You", "Body and Soul", and Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" among them. James who studied and played with jazz greats Chico Hamilton and Junior Mance is not overly reverent, but he is disciplined as well as innovative. Neves pianism pushes that envelope a little further still. His light touch, elegant harmonics, and subtly innovative fills and solos give James all the support and room he needs. Listen to this version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life". At over seven minutes, its graceful melody is taken deeply inside his rich, warm, sometimes arid baritone (the same way John Coltrane took it inside his horn this tune is a tribute to him) and brought out again as a compact universe of mystery, imagination, and marvelously diverse ethereal textures with Neve creating enough intuitive space around it to make it possible. The duos reading of "When I Fall in Love" is downright moving. It holds no trace of the nostalgia usually associated with its many interpretations. James is able to express the deep yearning in the lyric and melody without over-emoting. For jazz fans whove not heard him, this album is a very new turn on some well-worn music by a major talent. For James' fans who all knew he could sing like this For All We Know adds a different kind of depth and dimension to his established recorded oeuvre thus far". - Thom Jurek, AllMusic
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