[Billie Holiday] was keeping it super real, and you can feel that to this day. Everything that she sang, she believed in.… — Jose James Billie holiday Copy Share Image
I really like the complexity of jazz, the emotional depth; I feel like there's no other music that's really as satisfying as… — Jose James Complexity 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… — Jose James Billie holiday 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… — Jose James Block 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… — Jose James Next 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 -… — Jose James Clubs 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";… — Jose James Billie holiday 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… — Jose James Billie holiday Copy Share Image
I'm working with a producer, Scott Jacoby, who co-wrote "Trouble" off No Beginning No End. Without giving away too much, it's a… — Jose James Definite 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… — Jose James Albums 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,… — Jose James Album 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… — Jose James Activist Copy Share Image
The other songs [of Billie Holiday] - "Body and Soul" is like the standard - I also wanted some songs that I… — Jose James Billie holiday Copy Share Image
I actually started the whole project some years ago with a live debut at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The focus was mainly… — Jose James Band Copy Share Image
When I start working on a new album, I kind of stop listening to a lot of outside stuff just so I… — Jose James Albums Copy Share Image
When I sort of step in my jazz world, it's somewhere between instrumental jazz and vocal jazz. — Jose James Instrumental 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… — Jose James Epitome Copy Share Image
Chico Hamilton told me, "The first take is important in jazz because that's where the real emotion is." That's your true response… — Jose James Brain Copy Share Image
Once I had the band, Jason [Moran] and John [Patitucci] and Eric [Harland] - it's very exciting to have that trio of… — Jose James Band Copy Share Image
For better or for worse, I think my approach to jazz is very traditional, in one sense, but is [also] very out… — Jose James Approach Copy Share Image
I go by the "Miles Davis school of production and band-leading", where you pick the best musicians you can, you provide them… — Jose James Band Copy Share Image
For me jazz is kind of an extension of hip-hop. Kind of the sad thing is that a lot of jazz people… — Jose James Crossover Copy Share Image
I really pulled from that repertoire that Billie Holiday was singing, and the way she sang it. It's sort of this beautiful,… — Jose James Associates Copy Share Image
For me, the difference between a musician reading an arrangement on a piece of paper, and them closing their eyes and listening… — Jose James Arrangements Copy Share Image
There's a more experimental album that follows that, which is like Black Magic and While You Were Sleeping. Then there's a return… — Jose James Albums Copy Share Image
The level of musicianship in New York is the highest in the world. It's tough to get into. You start gigging making… — Jose James Dancer 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 had to pick songs that I felt the same about.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3ba/jose-james-22349_billie-holiday_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_billie-holiday_jason-moran-and-john-patitucci-and-eric_1495513.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_billie-holiday_the-other-songs-of-billie-holiday-body-a_260885.jpg)
![“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)
![“Once I had the band, Jason [Moran] and John [Patitucci] and Eric [Harland] - it's very exciting to have that trio of just world-class guys - I already knew it was going to be fantastic. I didn't really tell them anything about it. They didn't know what they were going to play beforehand.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7b9/jose-james-22349_band_once-i-had-the-band-jason-moran-and-john_2282255.jpg)
![“For better or for worse, I think my approach to jazz is very traditional, in one sense, but is [also] very out of fashion today. It's about the musicians, and it's about that magic that happens in the moment.” quote by Jose James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/893/jose-james-22349_approach_for-better-or-for-worse-i-think-my-appro_2429982.jpg)
