Frank McComb
MEET
JAMES DAY
James “J.D.” Day – “Holiday Soul”
“Wishes have wings, so let them take flight.” – “What Will You Do” (Day/Brackett/Perricone)
When the Songwriter from Boston was an impressionable young boy holding fast to classic vinyls of such evergreen performers and producers as Nat King Cole, Dionne Warwick, and Quincy Jones, wishes were whispered and dreams seeded for tomorrow’s winter bloom. Over the last 30 years, James Day has been carefully tending that garden of manifested wishes with such mahogany hushed voices as Lalah Hathaway, Glenn Jones, Regina Belle, Tony Terry, Cheryl “Pepsi” Riley, Tim Owens, and Audrey Wheeler. Across six albums and two EPs to commercial and critical acclaim, Day’s gallery of singers’ singers have delivered all the magic and wonder his fertile musical imagination could fairy dust into listener’s ears around the world.
These soulful collaborations have won Day the elite John Lennon & Billboard World Songwriting Competitions, and the Abe Olman Scholarship from the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Day’s original compositions have continually brought fans the joys and sorrows he experienced during those roasted chestnut seasons of lore. This fire was ignited by first loves Natalie Cole’s “Inseparable” and her father’s timeless Christmas album, shared with him by his grandfather and recently departed mother, respectively.
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A self-taught songwriter, Day began his artistic career studying voice, dance, and musical theater in 1980s New York City. Between his studies and auditions, Day found himself dancing in a music video by Chaka Khan and on a tv show alongside Soul Train’s Tyrone “The Bone” Proctor and Willie Ninja of House of Ninja and “Paris Is Burning” fame.
His early ascension came to an abrupt halt when diagnosed with the rare disorder, Meniere’s Syndrome, which began to rob him of his hearing and balance with chronic tinnitus and episodes of vertigo. The years to follow required multiple surgeries, recoveries, and the cyclical battles of learning to live with a progressive, incurable condition. With a head heavy with lyrics and melodies, Day built a home studio and taught himself to compose, record, and produce the works that restored his creative life. The subsequent attention of Maurice Starr (New Edition, New Kids on the Block), and then Berklee College of Music student, Lalah Hathaway (who Day would later write the lullaby “Dreamland” with, performed by Hathaway with the Metropole Orchestra and released on her 2nd album for the Stax/Concord label) followed, as did a string of song placements on daytime television including the hit shows The Young and the Restless and One Life to Live. After a stint as a pop songwriter with song placements on Virgin, Sony, and Universal records, Day began creating a string of independent albums in the vein of Quincy Jones and Norman Conners, that would win the critical acclaim and media attention of the Huffington Post, Blues & Soul Magazine, and SoulTracks.com (the latter having awarded his song “Love By Design”, Song of the Year). As Day soared through his rollercoaster industry ride of wishes come true his most consistent support would come from Barbara Day, his mother.
- by L. Michael Gipson of the Gipson Gazette
Behind THE ALBUM
The story
It’s the Coles’ vintage and modern combination of elegant jazz, sophisticated R&B, and strings that come to inform Day’s latest, greatest inspiration, “Holiday Soul”.
Paying homage to his mother’s favorite time of year, Day’s studied pen with stellar production by Lil’ John Roberts marries six contemporary holiday hallmarks with the gospel rhythms and doo wop harmonies of timeless soul. As romantic as it is uplifting, the lush voices of Frank McComb (Brandford Marsalis, Patrice Rushen), Sheléa Frazier (Quincy Jones, David Foster), and Shannon Pearson (Jeffrey Osborne, Al Jarreau), join esteemed drummer-producer Roberts (Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones) and an all star band studded with Grammy award winners and Billboard chart toppers (Phil Davis, Joel Powell, Melvin Jones, U-Nam, Hamilton Hardin and The Omina Session Strings) painting winter portraits that are equal parts revelry and melancholy.
From the bittersweet breakup of Day’s co-write with Gordon Chambers (Anita Baker, Whitney Houston) “December Goodbye” to the Chicago steppers’ delight of “Winter Wunderland” spirited year-end collection offers a range of shades and moods that swing as much as swoon. With ‘70s EWF flavored horns by Melvin Jones and George Benson inspired guitar licks by U-Nam driving the musical affirmations of “Celebrate Our Love,” McComb sound like they’re bringing in the New Year with house party cheer and champagne toasts. Meanwhile, a more top hat and tails McComb sparkles on the Irving Berlin meets Take 6 spiced cedar and ermine wrap of “Come Some Christmas” for a snuggled carriage ride through a cool winter’s snow. On the uplifting power ballad, “What Will You Do” (Day/Brackett/Perricone), an elevated McComb’s whiskey coated baritone could have been singing the interior question dogging Day’s tumultuous journey as an overcomer from day one. A more top hat and tails McComb sparkles on the Irving Berlin meets Take 6 spiced cedar and ermine wrap of “Come Some Christmas” for a snuggled carriage ride through a cool winter’s snow. Ultimately, “Holiday Soul” is James’s love letter to the lady, the shared songs that would come to shape his music, and her personal favorite snowcapped time of year. Later, as J.D.’s work gained traction, it would be his music that anointed their air as he personally cared for her through seasons of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease before J.D.’s heart space ultimately succumbed to Father Time at the golden age of 90 in 2024. Grief-stricken, it was the balm of music that carried Day through his pain and would again with this agape offering to both his and her resilient spirit. Recognizing the sweet importance of this recording occasion, “Holiday Soul” is Day’s most ambitious work to date. Live orchestrations and sinewy arrangements by Phil Davis with Hamilton Hardin and the Omina Session Strings, electric and acoustic bass by Joel Powell, and Roberts’ highly coveted drums keep the blood beating on every tune. Still, no sound is highlighted more on “Holiday Soul” than the voice of Frank McComb. Often historically compared to Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and George Benson, a more mature McComb sounds singularly himself throughout Day and Roberts’ work, while clearly having fun on every track. Only Sheléa matches McComb with her own honeyed solo on the gloriously orchestrated piano ballad, “Christmas Valentine,” one which still gets a twinkling McComb background touch. Collectively, this seasonal harvest of today’s bright and beautiful of song delivers their own Christmas valentine for both J.D.’s mom and new and old fans this holiday season and beyond.
Recognizing the sweet importance of this recording occasion, “Holiday Soul” is Day’s most ambitious work to date.
