The Dreamer is the first studio album by American jazz vocalist José James. It was released on Brownswood Recordings in 2008. A 10th Anniversary Edition was released in 2018, remastered and with 4 additional tracks.
Critical reception John Fordham of The Guardian gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "James sometimes suggests a 21st-century Leon Thomas (the 1970s singer who became an acid-jazz star), but he also exhibits a highly personal mix of Bobby McFerrin's tonal delicacy and the R&B and soul feel of D'Angelo - with the latter association sometimes reinforced by the way the vocal overdubs and harmonies work." Thomas Barlow of BBC said, "Stripped down and captivatingly raw, this is bonafide jazz all the way."
Adam Greenberg of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "He sings contemporary jazz with a strong sense of respect for the classics, but quietly puts hip-hop instrumentation behind his vocals, and multi-tracks himself for accentuation."
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes. José James – vocals Omar Abdulkarim – trumpet Nori Ochiai – piano Junior Mance – piano Ryan Blum – keyboards Gal Ben Haim – guitar Alexi David – bass guitar, double bass Luke Damrosch – drums Steve Lyman – drums Gilles Peterson – executive production
Charts Chart Peakposition UK Jazz & Blues Albums (OCC) 16
References
External links