Over the past couple of years, Pimps of Joytime guitarist Brian J has teamed up with an assortment of artists for a stripped down video series he calls Jamming with J. Most of the shoots have taken place in J’s backyard of Brooklyn, but he’s managed to hit up a few other locales as well–including New Orleans.
The latest video in the series finds J hanging out at the Mid-City home of New Orleans guitar titan Anders Osborne, where the pair joined forces for a stunning acoustic rendition of Osborne’s brand new, previously unreleased track “Fields of Honey.”
“I’ve been a fan of Brian’s talent and what he’s doing for a while now,” says Osborne. “When he first produced for Cyril Neville, his style really caught my ear and we were all ooh-ing and ahh-ing like, ‘who is this kid.’ So when Brian called to record this video together, I was super psyched.”
Osborne and J had run into each other numerous times on the festival circuit, and both worked with drummer Eric Bolivar for a while. However, the pair never had the opportunity to actually play music together–until now. Finding a break between their touring schedules last month, Osborne invited J to record the video on his back porch, where he had written a bunch of new tunes over the summer.
“‘Fields of Honey’ was written in the backyard at my house here in New Orleans,” explains Osborne. “This summer, every time I’m off the road, I would just sit back and write. I wanted to make something sweet and mellow, because the backyard is sweet and mellow. It’s a meditative space back there. And that’s one of the tunes I came up with.”
“Fields of Honey” is the 27th installment in the Jamming with J series. Past episodes have featured collaborations with New Orleans and Jazz Fest favorites like Papa Mali, Corey Henry, Sister Sparrow, Eric McFadden and more. As 2016 progresses, J hopes to produce more sessions in New Orleans, as well as other, more ambitious locations.
“In the future, I want to record sessions in Cuba, Mali and go international with it,” he says. “The series chronicles my musical journey in a way. But more than anything, it’s my favorite excuse to get together with people and just play around for a few hours. You never know where it can go.”
Pimps of Joytime will return to the road in February, so make sure to check out the list of their upcoming tour dates below.
Pimps of Joytime Tour Dates:
