JULIUS RODRIGUEZ EXPLORES GRATITUDE AND SELF-ACCEPTANCE ON NEW GOSPEL-R&B-INFUSED JAZZ MEDITATION “WHERE GRACE ABOUNDS”
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FEATURING DANCER JOYCE EDWARDS HERE
GEN Z JAZZ STAR FAST ON THE RISE SWAPS JUILLIARD FOR A$AP ROCKY TOUR BLAZING HIS OWN SONIC PATH ON DEBUT ALBUM
LET SOUND TELL ALL
SET FOR RELEASE JUNE 10
PLUS – TUNE IN TODAY FOR LIVE PERFORMANCE WITH RELIX TWITCH CHANNEL AT 2PM EST
"music that prioritizes a vibe” – NPR
“polymath…a cosmic jazz saga” – The Fader
"multi-instrumentalist bedroom beat-makers...who live by the loop ...are a mini-movement by now: Jacob Collier, DOMi and JD Beck, Julius Rodriguez” – New York Times
20 MAY 2022 (TORONTO, ON) – Today, Julius Rodriguez – multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and ‘rising jazz phenom’ (NPR) – releases a new single “Where Grace Abounds” accompanied by a stunning music video. The song is a gospel-infused, vibing meditation about self-acceptance and gratitude, and the music video stars Julius and dancer Joyce Edwards in a minimalist and moving metaphor exploring those themes. Watch the music video HERE. This is the third single from the debut album from Julius Rodriguez Let Sound Tell All set for release June 10 on the legendary Verve Records/Universal Music Canada. Pre-order the album HERE.
Rodriguez also previously announced a new show date in NYC on June 15 at the Sultan Room to celebrate the release of the album. Today, he performs live on the Relix Twitch Channel at 2pm EST.
The vibing gospel meditation “Where Grace Abounds” shows Rodriguez’s profound spiritual side. The self-reflective composition is, according to Julius, “a song I wrote at a time where I felt like I wasn't being the best version of myself yet, and still a lot of great things were happening to me. So it’s me being grateful for being in the situation I'm in, even though I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”
It begins as a duet between Rodriguez on piano and Hammond B-3 organ, speaking to himself through these two instruments and showing the profound compositional understanding and restraint. Eventually, Giveton Gelin’s trumpet and Hakim’s voice arrive as late-in-the-song punctuations, providing an ethereal and echoing chamber of reflection. Drew ofthe Drew and Jon Castelli mix it into a ghostly, gospel-like wonder.
Julius continues, “‘Where Grace Abounds’ has always been a special song because it really is more of a meditation that sticks out in a comforting way. Live, it has always evoked a certain atmosphere in the room, and in the process of capturing that atmosphere on record, all of the pieces very easily fell into place.”
The accompanying video is a minimalist metaphor masterpiece, featuring dancer Joyce Edwards and directed by Haley Anderson. It’s an interplay between Julius and his inner self, and at the end, a poignant moment of self-love and acceptance transpires when the dancer hugs Julius.
Photo: Avery J. Savage | Download hi-res images here
On his debut album Let Sound Tell All, 23 year old musician Julius Rodriguez stirs a cauldron of gospel, jazz, classical, R&B, hip-hop, experimentation, production and sheer technical wizardry to create a stunning debut that commands attention. As an 11 year old kid, Rodriguez honed his jazz chops at Smalls Jazz Club, wowing audiences with his rendition of his favourite Ellington tune “Take the A Train.” Fast forward to 2018 when he dropped out of Juilliard, shimmying off the rigid curriculum to tour with A$AP Rocky. Now, in 2022, Rodriguez is on the cusp of a stellar release that weaves his life and influences - from Monk, Coltrane, Solange, James Blake, Sampha and more. This music is as much at home in Smalls Jazz Club as it is at Gov Ball.
Let Sound Tell All is a complex combination of live improvisation weaved with high-level production. A song may start out in a well-oiled, Coltrane classic quartet energy and fed through distortion pedals to culminate in an exhilarating trippy meltdown of sheer sonic genius.
Call him Gen-Z jazz, but when you hear Julius Rodriguez play “the music,” as he calls it, it’s a modern Sound, as fluent in history as it is aware of its contemporary context. His music dares to imagine a future of new standards and musical trailblazing. This vanguard was raised in an atmosphere where pop and hip-hop and dance influenced their approaches to melody and harmony and rhythm, so of course it is part of their improvisational DNA. And that’s what Julius Rodriguez’s Sound tells to whoever will choose to listen.
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