José James

José James’ Lean On Me isn’t a tribute album so much as a séance with Bill Withers’ spirit — a smoky, late-night reimagining where reverence meets risk. James drapes Withers’ timeless warmth in satin-smooth jazz phrasing, neo-soul pulse, and a quietly subversive cool, pulling each classic into his own orbit without ever breaking the emotional spine that made them immortal.

Horn stabs flicker like streetlights in the rain, bass lines roll with a dusky swagger, and James’ voice—always intimate, always human—glides between tenderness and grit. It’s soul music for modern rooms: cinematic, stylish, and quietly radical. A love letter rewritten in fresh ink.