{"product_id":"these-are-soulful-days","title":"These Are Soulful Days","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"699\" data-start=\"155\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis (DownBeat Magazine’s 2025 Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year) has been on a seemingly boundless artistic ascent since even before his 2021 album \u003cem data-end=\"378\" data-start=\"365\"\u003eJesup Wagon\u003c\/em\u003e (Tao Forms) broke through. This stirring and potent work was composed during Lewis’s initial development of ideas for the second Red Lily Project, \u003cem data-end=\"550\" data-start=\"526\"\u003eFor Mahalia, With Love\u003c\/em\u003e. That eternal and deeply evocative jazz homage to Mahalia Jackson likewise took the #1 spot in the esteemed Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll in 2023. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"938\" data-start=\"701\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFurthermore, a pair of themes brought to vibrant new life by Red Lily on \u003cem data-end=\"788\" data-start=\"774\"\u003eFor Mahalia…\u003c\/em\u003e are woven into \u003cem data-end=\"828\" data-start=\"804\"\u003eThese Are Soulful Days\u003c\/em\u003e, and it is a wonder to hear their resonance in such a thoroughly different context — a powerful beauty, true.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1343\" data-start=\"940\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem data-end=\"964\" data-start=\"940\"\u003eThese Are Soulful Days\u003c\/em\u003e is James Brandon Lewis’s first long-form composition for string quartet and tenor saxophone. Performed by Lewis and the Lutosławski Quartet (Roksana Kwaśnikowska – 1st violin; Marcin Markowicz – 2nd violin; Artur Rozmysłowicz – viola; Maciej Młodawski – cello), it was commissioned by Poland’s National Forum of Music for its world premiere at the Jazztopad Festival in Wrocław.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1624\" data-start=\"1345\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLewis writes:\u003cbr data-end=\"1361\" data-start=\"1358\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“These Are Soulful Days is built from, and inspired by, the fabric of a quilted history of African American music — from its folk traditions of blues, spirituals, and jazz. It embodies the sentiment of a joyful past, a determined present, and a resilient future.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2074\" data-start=\"1626\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe album also took the #1 spot in all major U.S. jazz critics polls. With thorough devotion to his craft, Lewis has continued to move from strength to strength: touring widely throughout the U.S. and Europe, and creating a series of distinct and acclaimed albums for the labels Anti- (trio), Intakt (quartet), and Tao Forms (Red Lily). Not to mention his work with the Messthetics, who have lit stages nationwide since their 2024 album on Impulse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tao Forms","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":52028699017497,"sku":null,"price":17.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0714\/4669\/2121\/files\/JamesBrandonLewis-TheseAreSoulfulDays-RSDstickered.jpg?v=1772078545","url":"https:\/\/virtualdirect.store\/products\/these-are-soulful-days","provider":"Virtual Direct","version":"1.0","type":"link"}