James Hudson Album ‘Moonray’ Out March 15

James Hudson is proud to present the brand-new album Moonray, to be released in March 2024. In addition to a well versed and trusted rhythm section, Moonray features horns, strings and vibraphone, resulting in a showcase of a unique thirteen-piece band, projecting a high impact sound that perfectly compliments James Hudson’s mesmerising vocals. This accomplished recording charts a natural progression from James Hudson’s previous work; both the rare and impressive combination of instruments and scale of the ensemble are notably daring elements to this project.

The repertoire on Moonray has been meticulously selected, with Hudson choosing a number of enigmatic and mysterious songs to arrange and perform, that are befitting of the album title. He explains that his vision was to “combine the sounds of the George Shearing Quintet with the style of the Marty Paich Dek-tette / Mel Torme albums, to create my own unique line-up with a contemporary flavour.” With this approach, James Hudson has added a thought-provoking atmosphere to what is undoubtably an engaging listen. The recently released single ‘Feed The Birds’ has already fuelled the imagination of jazz fans, having been featured extensively on UK radio and forthcoming tracks are set to continue to build this momentum. 

James Hudson’s debut album ‘Tomorrow’ features Hudson performing original arrangements of classics from The Great American Songbook. ‘Tomorrow’ gained many accolades and widespread critical acclaim, including exceptional reviews via publications such as BBC Music Magazine, Jazzwise, London Jazz News, Jazz Views, as well as international media coverage and air-time across national radio stations such as Jazz FM, where it was named ‘Album of the Week’ by their flagship evening show ‘Dinner Jazz’.

In-demand at many of the UK’s most respected jazz clubs, Hudson has performed with his own band to a sold-out crowd at the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, as well as appearing at the EFG London Jazz Festival, Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho, Peggy’s Skylight (Nottingham) and Hull Truck Theatre. As one of very few artists of his generation producing and recording this style of music, Hudson takes a bold step with this ambitious and compelling new opus. 

Moonray is a celebration of James Hudson as an artist with both creativity and passion, that will enable the young jazz star to continue to flourish as one of the very best singers on the scene today.

Track Listing:

1. On A Clear Day (Burton Lane / Alan Jay Lerner)
2. From This Moment On (Cole Porter)
3. Moonray (Artie Shaw)
4. That’s All (Bob Haymes)
5. Sing For Your Supper (Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart)
6. Four (Miles Davis / Jon Hendricks)
7. Careless (Eddy Howard / Dick Jurgens / Lew Quadling)
8. Sunny (Bobby Hebb)
9. The Nearness Of You (Hoagy Carmichael)