Released April 18, 2026
[ TAO 14 ]
DL - Download available at our Bandcamp (includes digital booklet). Noting too that a Bandcamp-hosted download card is included with 2LP edition of For Mahalia, With Love which is available here (and in exclusive bundle).
LP - Black vinyl in poly-lined inner sleeves. A lovely item true all the way through. Released for Record Store Day (US) April 18, 2026. 10 copies are all we had to offer direct of this beauty we made. Do not fret if you missed it then >> copies remain available up on Discogs.
CD - released in deluxe 2CD edition of For Mahalia, With Love, readily available here, and in sweet bundle options on the For Mahalia.. page.
Tenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis (DownBeat Magazine's 2025 Artist of The Year & Tenor Saxophonist of The Year) has been on seemingly boundless artistic ascent since before his 2021 album Jesup Wagon took wing, sweeping the #1 spot on all US jazz critics polls. [ though getting boost from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on his Substack juiced James the most ].
With a thorough devotion to craft, Lewis has moved from strength-to-strength since: touring widely in the US & Europe, and creating a series of distinct & acclaimed albums for the labels, ANTI- (Trio), Intakt (Quartet), and TAO Forms (Red Lily). Not to mention his work together with The Messthetics, who have lit stages nationwide since their first 2024 album on Impulse.
In same week this album was released, James was announced among the 2026 Guggenheim Foundation Fellows in the field of Music Composition – heartfelt congratulations to him and all recipients!
These Are Soulful Days is James Brandon Lewis’ first long-form composition for string quartet & tenor saxophone. Performed by Lewis & the Lutosławski Quartet, it was commissioned by Poland's National Forum of Music for world premiere at the Jazztopad Festival in Wrocław.
JBL writes: "This work is built from, and inspired by, the fabric of a quilted history of African-American music from its folk traditions of blues, spirituals and jazz. It embodies the sentiment of a joyful past, a determined present and a resilient future."
This stirring and gorgeous work was composed by Lewis during his initial development of the second Red Lily project: For Mahalia, With Love. That eternal & deeply evocative jazz homage to Mahalia Jackson likewise took the #1 spot in the esteemed Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll in 2023. A pair of the themes brought to vibrant new life by Red Lily on For Mahalia are woven into Soulful Days, and it is a wonder to hear their resonance in such a thoroughly different context. A powerful beauty true.
First released as additional CD on the 2CD (and exclusive download code w/ 2LP) editions of For Mahalia, With Love on September 8, 2023. That essential work remains available in both formats. It is a must-have; forever.
First released widely in the digital realm as a standalone work on April 18, 2026 - same day as LP edition for RSD.
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These Are Soulful Days
1. Introduction by JBL (0:36)
2. Prologue - Humility (4:42)
3. Movement I (7:52)
4. Movement II (11:50)
5. Movement III (7:15)
6. Movement IV (9:35)
7. Epilogue - Resilience (6:19)
8. Encore - Take Me To The Water (3:25)
Performed by James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet
James Brandon Lewis - tenor saxophone
Roksana Kwaśnikowska - first violin Marcin Markowicz - second violin Artur Rozmysłowicz - viola Maciej Młodawski - cello
Composed by James Brandon Lewis
© James Brandon Lewis Music (ASCAP)
“These Are Soulful Days” was commissioned by the National Forum of Music (NFM) for this world premiere performance at the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland on Nov. 20, 2021
Recorded & mixed by NFM sound engineer Piotr ‘Lama’ Papier
Mastered by Paul Wickliffe at Skyline Studios, NJ
Cover Artwork / design / layout by William Mazza Studio.
Special thanks to Piotr Turkiewicz, and to all at NFM ( nfm.wroclaw.pl ) & Jazztopad Festival ( jazztopad.pl ).