Grace Kelly - Trying to Figure It Out (2016)

THIS ALBUM EXPLORES HUMAN EMOTION. I've always been fascinated by the range of emotion people experience, as well as the mind-body connection. The themes of this album include the journey from darkness into light and the multitude of emotional struggles that we deal with everyday. Musically, this album explores the world of Jazz and Beyond; from acoustic jazz and cinematic compositions driven by mood and sound effects mixed with improvisation to a genre-bending sound with contemporary production, groove, and songwriting. I was thrilled to have a band that really understood my vision and could play all of the music truly authentically. Likewise, I was very excited to have special guests who are inspirations to me - they are artists who are making their own stamp in the world of Jazz and Beyond. I love many different styles of music, and wanted to meld all of these inspirations into a pot, stir it up, to serve you some delicious Grace soup! In the past couple of years I've had the amazing fortune to be a part of two big projects. One is a documentary called Sound of Redemption about the late great alto saxophonist Frank Morgan (who was one of my mentors); the second is the Amazon Prime original series BOSCH based on the book series by NY Times best-selling author Michael Connelly. In the series, the main character Bosch is a LA homicide detective who loves jazz. In season two he comes to see me perform my composition Blues For Harry Bosch at Catalina s Jazz Club in Hollywood. It was a thrill to be filmed for this TV series!! Music is my therapy. Music says the things words can't say. I ve also witnessed its power to shift emotions and heal people. There is a deep soulfulness and heart to this album that I feel connected more strongly than my previous records because of the inspiration it comes from. The stories told throughout this album are inspired by the many people I ve encountered in my life: Frank Morgan, Harry Bosch, inmates from San Quentin Prison, others in my life, and my personal experiences. We are all living in this world with different struggles and there is so much music in that. I wanted the listener to experience the scenes in my head through the music. I wanted to convey images of people going through heartache, loss, and hopelessness - through perseverance, hope, redemption, joy, and everything in between. I hope this album is more than melodies and rhythms to you. I created it to be a friend who will sit with you and inspire hope and light. I've spent a lot of time digging deep within for this album, and I hope you feel the heart inside.

Tracklist:

1. Blues for Harry Bosch
2. He Shot a Man (feat. Shayna Steele)
3. By the Grave
4. Ballad for MC
5. Trying to Figure It Out
6. Smile
7. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
8. Hey Connection
9. Magic
10. The Other One
11. Blues for Harry Bosch (Mocean Worker Remix) [feat. Mocean Worker]
12. Amazing Grace
13. Lemon's Make Lemonade (feat. Jon Batiste)