jT current SHOWS
Color ME JAzz (The Tormé WAY)
True jazz singers love being given the freedom to hand-pick the songs to fit a moment in time. Color Me Jazz allows James to do just that, following his natural instincts to deliver a personal, true-to-life jazz experience that’s different every time.
*Can be performed with jazz trio, quartet or quintet.
BORN TO BE BLUE
The rebirth of the late-night Playboy after Dark vocal jazz scene that once boasted Nancy Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr., Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, James’ internationally sold-out Born To Be Blue brings the very artists and songs that inspired his own jazz journey soaring back into our minds and hearts like never before.
*Can be performed with jazz trio, quartet or quintet.
DIG THE DUKE, DIG THE COUNT
First half Ellington, second half Basie. Tormé all the way.
A stunning big band reinvention of Mel Tormé’s legendary 1961 Verve LP , arranged by the great Johnny Mandel, Dig the Duke, Dig the Count is comprised of twelve songs from the album in their original order, plus a few other Basie/Ellington surprises. It’s the perfect canvas for James to inject his own instincts and style, as he pulls new colors, textures, and moods out of a collection of Basie and Ellington arrangements that cannot be heard anywhere else.
HOLIDAY POPS / TORMÉ FOR THE HOLIDAYS
A symphonic jazz masterpiece, filled with swinging, sophisticated versions of America’s favorite winter classics (arranged by legends – his own father Mel, John Williams and more), James’ Tormé for the Holidays! (aka A Very Tormé Christmas) concerts garner both praise and packed crowds year after year.
As the show builds to its climax, James fulfills a long-held family ritual: telling the story of, then singing his father Mel and Bob Wells’ “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)”, the song that was gifted to Nat ‘King’ Cole in 1945, before becoming his biggest hit.
Celebrating the song’s 80th anniversary this year!
*Available in Full symphony, big band or smaller configurations.
THE BIRTH OF THE WEST COAST
James salutes the music that defined California’s West Coast (aka Cool Jazz) sound, while uncovering new magic from this indelible chapter in jazz history.
From Nat ‘King’ Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Anita O’Day, Chet Baker, Lou Rawls, Miles Davis and Peggy Lee, to James’ own father Mel, Birth Of The West Coast shines light on a myriad of legendary West Coast singers and their arrangers, putting all these great artists into perspective.
*Can be performed with Big Band, Dek-tette (8 horn jazz group), Little Big Band (with 6 horns) or smaller formats, including jazz quintet, quartet and trio.
THE SOUND OF MARTY PAICH
James Tormé celebrates the genius of iconic West Coast jazz arranger, Marty Paich.
From the legendary vocal albums he arranged for singers Mel Tormé and Ella Fitzgerald, to those he recorded with Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Anita O’Day, Sammy Davis Jr. and Aretha Franklin — to his piano playing with Stan Getz, Art Pepper, Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers and countless others, iconic arranger Marty Paich proved time after time that he could access staggering levels of creativity.
Utilizing his unique access to the arrangements from the Tormé and Paich archives, James salutes the wizardry, both vocal and instrumental, of the man they called “The Picasso of jazz” in this one of a kind full-length program.
Can be performed with jazz ’Dek-tette’ (an 8-horn little big band), or smaller formats, including jazz quintet, quartet and trio.
EAST ON MELROSE
“The feeling of the Eighties is back in L.A. But it’s totally different this time.”
James Tormé’s East On Melrose LP and eponymous West Cost collective offers a blissfully fresh, sophisticated exploration of pop-jazz-fusion, centered around the songwriting of Tormé (vocals), keyboardist Robert Turner (Dr. Dre, Stevie Wonder) and Grammy winning drummer Lyndon Rochelle (Esperanza Spaulding). Instantly discernible are some of the swathe of childhood British and American influences often mentioned by Tormé in the past — Michael Jackson. Prince. Wang Chung. Steely Dan. Earth Wind & Fire. Michael McDonald. Tormé’s songs seem to be imbued with the soul and sophistication of an era when these acts were at their absolute peak. Yet there is no attempt here to copy anything that’s been done before. One is confronted by an unusual occurrence in todays’s music scene: brand new music that feels and sounds as good as what once was.
Tormé recounts the project’s genesis, “A few summers ago I was feeling some severe creative frustration. I called and convinced Robert to write some tracks with me. We hadn’t seen each other or worked on any music in over 13 years, because Robert had moved to China for almost a decade. I’d heard he was back in the Western Hemisphere. And I knew he was a genius. Robert agreed to do a ‘reunion’ project together, and right away a steady flow of musical concepts started streaming into my phone from his. Pieces of music came in all times of the day and night. I think the fact that we were coming back together after such a long time apart helped create nostalgia for the project. Robert had come up with a unique, synth bass-driven Minneapolis/Philly-derived, retro-future sound, which he now augmented with chord progressions that could have come from Jimmy Jam and Teddy Riley in the late 8o’s, or maybe Rod Temperton, a decade earlier. I loved it all, and wrote songs pretty much as fast as he could send music to me. Crucially, neither of us overthought the project. We were just two guys writing personal songs on a specific little musical journey, never comparing ourselves to anyone else. But somewhere deep down you just knew something special was happening. Then Lyndon came on board on drums,. He is so talented, it’s literally disturbing.”
EOM’s debut appearance at Bottlerock Music Festival 2022 in Napa Valley garnered a stellar response.
The eponymous album is set for release in late 2025.
““This s**t is retro-future 🔥.
”