ARTICLE: MAXWELL Returns With BLACKsummers’night (Smooth Jazz Network)
Maxwell says he didn’t mean to stay away this long. But his break, first announced as a short hiatus, lasted seven years.
Now Maxwell is stepping back on the public stage. Next Tuesday, July 7th , he’ll release his long-awaited, often-delayed fourth studio album, “BLACKsummer’snight,” the first installment of a trilogy. Maxwell first announced the trilogy in 2005.
Maxwell told Billboard, “The time away gave me a better appreciation of things, so I took the time I needed to live to make this album something of substance,” he says now. “People tend to be so hell bent on remaining famous that you become desensitized to the music industry to some level. But my passion is making music and promoting and supporting great musicians.”
When he walked away Maxwell had released three studio albums: 1996′s Grammy-nominated “Urban Hang Suite,” which sold 1.8 million copies; 1998′s “Embrya” (1.2 million); and 2001′s chart-topping “Now” (1.8 million).
But in 2002, after wrapping up the “Now” tour, Maxwell pulled the plug on his public life. Maxwell says he didn’t mean to stay away this long, and he never stopped making music.
He began living a “pedestrian life, and I liked being regular. It was kind of a recalibration of the system as life experiences caught up with me,” he says. “Up to that point I’d been on the road and didn’t have a chance to really live. But I write about real-life experiences, so it just felt like I had to sit back and let these experiences happen and inspire me all over again.”
About the trilogy, Maxwell says that “‘BLACK’ is darker. It has a bluesier side and features more despondent records. It speaks plenty to love lost.”
“BlackSUMMER’Snight,” eyed for release in 2010, has more of a gospel feel. “It’s lighter. It’s gospel music for the common person that wouldn’t naturally get involved with that type of music. Hopefully they’ll get down with it now,” he says.
And, finally, “Blacksummer’sNIGHT,” with an anticipated 2011 release, is “straight-up slow jam records.”
Proving that he’s up to date on the latest social networking and marketing techniques, Maxwell has begun using Twitter and Facebook.
Despite all the renewed activity and attention, Maxwell still plans to live his life as he chooses — like an ordinary person. “I know this sounds crazy, but, at the end of the day, I just want to have a house on the hill, some kids and a wife I will never divorce,” he says. “It’s that simple.”
Source: Smooth Jazz Network
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