Joan Osborne Announces Jazz-Inspired Revamp of Relish Reimagined

Today, GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Joan Osborne announces Relish Reimagined, a jazz-inspired reimagining of her landmark debut album, arriving just over 30 years since its original release on November 13 via Brother Mister Productions/Mack Avenue Music Group. Produced by 11x GRAMMY-winner Christian McBride, Relish Reimagined also boasts an all-star band of modern jazz artists including Marc Ribot, Nate Smith, Caelen Cardello, Renee Rosnes, Jerome Jennings and Donny McCaslin who, alongside Osborne and McBride, breathe inventive new life into these beloved songs.

Along with the news, her revamp of the Bob Dylan staple “Man in the Long Black Coat” is available now. In a full-circle moment, the original release of Relish brought Osborne to the attention of Dylan, thanks in part to her critically acclaimed rendition of his song on the original album, which later led to the two recording a duet together.

Stream “Man in the Long Black Coat”

Pre-order Relish Reimagined

“My first recording of it on the original Relish brought me to Dylan’s attention, and he invited me to record a duet with him in the studio, a career highlight for me,” says Osborne. “This was one of the first tunes Christian and I worked on arranging in his basement studio, and the swinging feel he brought to it propels the tune forward as the story of the lyric unfolds, like a whole movie in one song.”

To celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary, Osborne decided to reinterpret the songs of Relish through the lens of an unexpected influence – inspired by her visit to the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival, which proved to be an eye-opening experience for a singer with an admittedly cursory familiarity with the genre. She was also impressed by McBride, then nearing the end of his decade-long run as Newport’s artistic director. “I met Christian backstage and found him to be incredibly warm, charismatic and friendly,” Osborne recalls. Already brainstorming ways to honor Relish for its upcoming 30th, she was struck by a sudden inspiration and reached out to McBride to see if he’d be interested in taking her debut album to a completely different place.

As it happened, McBride had been a fan of Relish and Osborne since the album’s initial release. On the collaboration, the revered bassist states, “If you could have told me in 1995 that I’d one day be working with Joan Osborne, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I’m honored to call Joan not just a musical partner and cohort, but a friend.”

The band that Osborne and McBride assembled for the session is a conglomeration of stellar jazz innovators, all of them well-versed in transcending stylistic boundaries. Guitarist Marc Ribot is a legend of no wave and free jazz experimentation equally renowned for his work with the likes of Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elton John and countless others. Drummer Nate Smith, McBride’s successor at the Newport helm, is a polymath musician and producer whose work has ranged from Michael Jackson to Dave Holland to Childish Gambino to his own genre-melding band Kinfolk.

Donny McCaslin is a powerhouse tenor saxophonist whose fascination with rock and electronica led to his collaboration with David Bowie on the iconic singer’s final album, Blackstar. Pianist Renee Rosnes is widely acclaimed as a bandleader, as a sideperson with such greats as Ron Carter and Wayne Shorter, and as the founder and musical director of the jazz supergroup Artemis. Jerome Jennings is an Emmy-winning soundtrack composer as well as an in-demand drummer who has recorded with Sonny Rollins, Lakecia Benjamin, Jazzmeia Horn and Christian Sands, among others. Rising star pianist Caelen Cardello was hand-picked by Osborne after she heard him perform at Newport with fellow Juilliard alum Tyreek McDole.

Osborne and McBride worked together at the producer’s New Jersey home to conceive the basic arrangements for the new interpretations, but according to the singer-songwriter, the songs really blossomed when everyone convened in the studio. “The musicians really put the meat on the bones of our arrangements,” she says. “Since I'm not an instrumentalist, I found that the way to communicate with them was to talk about ideas and concepts, the cinematic moments that happen in each song.”

One of the primary reasons that Osborne wanted to record Relish Reimagined was the fact that she has gained three decades of perspective on these songs. The arrangements that she plays with her own touring band have evolved over that time, as has her own connection with the material as it’s been colored by experience and maturity. She’s also been confronted with the profound impact that the album has made on its fans.

“I've lived with these songs for 30 years and know them more intimately than anyone,” Osborne says, reflecting on the experience of recording Relish Reimagined. “It was amazing to be in the room with these people who are stellar players at a level that I could never hope to achieve myself and find a new understanding of the album. These sessions were so joyful for me.”

Osborne is currently on the road finishing a run of dates paying homage to Bob Dylan, before kicking off a 30th-anniversary tour of Relish in which she’ll be treating audiences to these new interpretations next year. To that end, McBride will be joining her at the Blue Note Los Angeles in early March – see below for a full list of dates or visit her website.

Relish Reimagined:

1. St. Teresa

2. Man in the Long Black Coat

3. Right Hand Man

4. Pensacola

5. Dracula Moon

6. One Of Us

7. Ladder

8. Spider Web

9. Help Me

10. Crazy Baby

11. Lumina