José James announced his new album No Beginning No End 2 today and shares “I Need Your Love” featuring Ledisi and trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. The romantic song will be on the album that has appearances from Aloe Blacc, Laura Mvula, Lizz Wright and more. No Beginning No End 2 is the sequel to his 2013 Blue Note debut No Beginning No End. He admits to being encouraged by his fans: 

“I wrote a thing on Instagram saying I was thinking about No Beginning No End 2 and people went insane. They wrote thousands of comments about how the first one changed their life. I don’t sit around and think ‘my work is so important’ so that was kinda nice.”

The new album will be released on March 6th on James’s Rainbow Blonde Records.  

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[youtube id=”rwEXu3oo-xg”] [youtube id=”x80tq7lTlc4″] José James has two new videos for his ongoing tribute to Bill Withers with covers of “Hope She’ll Be Happier” and “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh.” It is the third song by Withers that James has covered following the premiere of “Better Off Dead” last month. The Lean On Me: José James Celebrates Bill Withers tour will begin January 11th in New York City. The band that appears in each video will be the same one to accompany James on tour. Don Was, president of Blue Note, connected James to Bill Withers after James asked for his opinion on doing a Withers tribute tour. He had lunch with his idol who gave the tour his blessing. James told Billboard,

“He’s the only artist I’ve met who has no time for flattery or compliments. He’s one of the greatest songwriters of all time; his influence on modern American music is massive. He’s seen it all but stays really humble and true to the music.”

In February James will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his debut album The Dreamer with a four-night run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City.

[youtube id=”_EFMz2AX1gE”] Jazz and R&B vocalist José James is embarking on a two-year tour dedicated to Bill Withers’ legacy. James has included Withers’ music in his live set for the past few years as a medley at the end of his show. On January 11th James will kick off the Lean On Me: José James Celebrates Bill Withers tour in New York City. The video of James performing “Better Off Dead” is a preview of the show. Withers is vetting the show which will lead to an album release from James next year.

“Code” comes from Jose Jame’s Black Magic CD that was released in February.