Maxwell

Maxwell’s forthcoming album trilogy ‘Black Summers’ Night,’ may be the most anticipated album since Michael Jackson followed “Off the Wall with “Thriller”…maybe not that extreme but if you’re a diehard Neo-Soul” fan like myself, you know that this album places itself firmly within the niche for which he practically created.  “Neo-Soul” for all intents and purposes is basically R&B, Soul, Jazz and a l’ill sumthin sumthin of bohemian flavor mixed in. Its emergence arguably, can be traced to jazz notables the likes of Miles Davis and Coltrane developing and morphing itself through Marvin Gaye’s social conscious and activism (“What’s Going On”). When Maxwell released “Urban Hang Suite” in 1996, he was in the proverbial “perfect storm” where R&B listeners were again craving for a deeper meaning to their music. Since then, Maxwell has taken us on a blissful journey through “Embrya” (1998) and “Now” (2001) with the standout hit “Lifetime”. Fast forward to 2008.  7 years without a Maxwell hit…that’s on biblical proportions like a 7 year drought. But now the rain cometh…a 3 disk trilogy ‘Black Summer’s Night’, with ‘Black’ due to release in late 2008 early 2009, ‘Summer’ in 2010 and ‘Night” in late 2010 or early 2011. This release of the highly anticipated fourth album however, won’t happen without proper foreplay from Maxwell’s part. Maxwell will prepare his audience with the 26-date ‘Black Summer’s Night Pre-party Tour Celebration’. Instead of simply releasing a single and video, he elected instead to perform it live… Says Maxwell, “I’ve been working on and off on the ‘Black Summers’ Night’ trilogy and thought the best way to debut it was to take it direct to the people. Nothing beats a live show. You can’t mp3 it. You can record it on a camera phone, but it’ll never duplicate the raw experience of being there. In this day and age, we need that, and I need that.” Maxwell elaborates that the show won’t entirely consist of new material…”A few new songs from ‘Black Summer’s Night’ will be included in the concerts, but rest assured that as much as I want to, I won’t bombard people with material they don’t know.” There will, however, be a few unexpected numbers, including a cover of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful” and “an extra one that represents my love for Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. It’s not what you think though- I’m not a rapper, and I won’t rap, but when you hear it,” explains Maxwell, “it’ll make sense!”…Personally speaking, I don’t care if he samples Milli Vanilli, it’s guaranteed to quench our thirsts. - Joel