José James – The Dreamer
General Description
Artist/Band: José James 
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Album Title: The Dreamer
Year: 2007
Hard work, just rewards
How I Got Into This Music
The evil man, Hieronymus Fox, all his fault 
He took me to see the guy perform in Paradiso about a month ago. And I was seriously impressed!
So when his album was released I had to have a listen.
Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at 
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Video clips at 
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Tracks that got my attention:
The Dreamer
Title track, takes you directly to the essence: jazzy trumpet, omnipresent piano and a lazy but sweet bass on the background. What? The vocals? Ooooooow, so sweet! It’s got this dreamy, lullaby softness mixed with booming vocal peaks, damn!
This song’s a classic Walk Along The Beach theme.
Velvet
The song’s strongest point is (how Zen) also its Achilles heel: the slow, repetative and grinding build up to this.. climax, I guess. And that climax isn’t that satisfactory.
blackeyedsusan
Damn, this track’s close to perfection. James’ smokey and brittle voice is great. Nice piano solo.
Park Bench People
Sample from A Tribe Called Quest’s Sucka Niggahs. Now I got to find me the original, heheh..
Interesting social commentary, soft and sharp edges at the same time.
Nola
Hauntingly beautiful song. Melancholy in a kind way.
Red
Another excellent track. Puts him in the true Jazz Vocalist category, forget Collum and those crooner types.
Winter Wind
This one’s a Walk In The Park On A Sunny Winter Day kind of track.
Desire
A bit too heavy on the drama.
Love
Nice up-tempo track; a pleasant change of style.
Conclusion
Go see this guy perform live.
This album’s a great product of hard work, devotion and soul. It’s just a bit too repetitive for my taste. It’s not James’ vocals, that’s diverse enough to take you to heaven and back. But the tracks all have the same setup, his vocals and the piano/keyboards are the main instruments. The other musicians are purely there for support, only the trumpet gets some minutes in front, that’s it.
Same thing occurred to me when I saw the band at Paradiso: how hard is it to let the drummer and the bassist join in? Again, it’s the one-sideness that caught my attention, everything else is bloody top notch.
It’s probably gonna be the same thing as with The Roots: I’m not very impressed with the albums but I’m 100 per cent sure that I’ll be seeing them play live again, the first chance that I get. I’m seriously hoping José James and band will perform during North Sea Jazz this year.
And as I said before, this guy is not of the J Collum class of easy listening crooner babies. Do not confuse crooning with jazz vocals: different disciplines and José James is of a greater quality.
Go see this guy perform live.
Rating: 
Nice review my man!
It’s about time we got some alternative for the slick Bublés, Cullums and Dusks in this world!
I understand the line you draw from the concert to the album, though the repetitive doesn’t bother me. It feels like one mood. During the concert that was just the differende between great and amazing, but on the album it’s in balance.
I just love the deep basslines. They get me week in the knees.
Most jazz albums I cannot play more than one time in my car. The Dreamer I can. Over and over again..
BTW you might see José perform earlier this year. I brought his agent in contact with the organisation of I~Jazz (end of June, Amsterdam). Also did that with 4Hero.
You remember my dream..?
A man has to do what he has to do to give the audience some goodies.. heheheh..
that would be a nice combo, HF!
crossing my fingers and hoping for a sweet collaboration..
Well, off course it’s a long shot.
But a shot it is!