I actually started the whole project some years ago with a live debut at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The focus was mainly on my favorite period of Billie Holiday, which was the late-50s Verve recordings, with essentially a small version… — Jose James Copy Share Image
I love that [ late-50s Verve recordings] - to me, that's the epitome of vocal jazz. It's my favorite style and era of it. — Jose James Copy Share Image
I don't get writer's block. I don't try to write anything; when something comes, I write it. I just practice and when I get… — Jose James Copy Share Image
The other songs [of Billie Holiday] - "Body and Soul" is like the standard - I also wanted some songs that I knew I… — Jose James Copy Share Image
[Billie Holiday] was keeping it super real, and you can feel that to this day. Everything that she sang, she believed in. So I… — Jose James Copy Share Image
I feel like, in many ways, Billie Holiday's still very under-appreciated as an artist. People focus on her voice, and all of the very… — Jose James Copy Share Image
If you look at the other singers of Billie Holiday's time, they were really trying to entertain. They were trying to make people feel… — Jose James Copy Share Image
I also tried to focus on songs that Billie Holiday wrote, songs that she had a hand in shaping, like "Strange Fruit"; songs that… — Jose James Copy Share Image
I'm listening to a lot of Drake, and a lot of Frank Sinatra just because it's his centennial also. I'm going to be doing… — Jose James Copy Share Image
All my stuff is pretty seamless - like now, while I'm touring [Yesterday I Sang The Blues], today I'm going to go in the… — Jose James Copy Share Image
When I sort of step in my jazz world, it's somewhere between instrumental jazz and vocal jazz. — Jose James Copy Share Image
Jason [Moran] and John [Patitucci] and Eric [Harland] knew it was a Billie Holiday tribute. I'm sure they assumed it was going to be… — Jose James Copy Share Image
There used to be a club in new york called Bradley's - I've never been there, it closed in the 80's - but I… — Jose James Copy Share Image
I've sort of realized there's a definite pattern to my output at this point: there's an album that everybody sort of loves, that's a… — Jose James Copy Share Image
![“I love that [ late-50s Verve recordings] - to me, that's the epitome of vocal jazz. It's my favorite style and era of it.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/528/jose-james-22349_epitome_i-love-that-late-50s-verve-recordings-to_2017045.jpg)
![“The other songs [of Billie Holiday] - "Body and Soul" is like the standard - I also wanted some songs that I knew I would sound good on, as a producer. It's been the same nine songs since I debuted it back in 2012.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/134/jose-james-22349_body_the-other-songs-of-billie-holiday-body-a_260885.jpg)
![“[Billie Holiday] was keeping it super real, and you can feel that to this day. Everything that she sang, she believed in. So I had to pick songs that I felt the same about.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3ba/jose-james-22349_feels_billie-holiday-was-keeping-it-super-real_313883.jpg)
![“All my stuff is pretty seamless - like now, while I'm touring [Yesterday I Sang The Blues], today I'm going to go in the studio, I'm writing my next one. For me it's continual.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e35/jose-james-22349_next_all-my-stuff-is-pretty-seamless-like-now_1077289.jpg)
![“Jason [Moran] and John [Patitucci] and Eric [Harland] knew it was a Billie Holiday tribute. I'm sure they assumed it was going to be like another singer date, where we just have a bunch of charts and they write them down and they got paid and kind of moved on. There's nothing wrong with that, but…” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/caf/jose-james-22349_bunch_jason-moran-and-john-patitucci-and-eric_1495513.jpg)
