Zacchae'us Paul releases Album "JAZZ MONEY VOL.2 - SWINGING' R&B"

Atlanta-born multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist Zacchae’us Paul returns with his sophomore album JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B on October 16 via Candid Records.

A seamless collision of jazz, hip-hop, R&B, neo-soul and pop, JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B finds Paul pushing the boundaries of contemporary Black music while remaining deeply rooted in the improvisational spirit of jazz.

JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B is a truly genre-blurring amalgam of great Black music, connecting the dots between hip-hop, hard-swinging modern jazz, neo-soul, pop and so much more. Diamond-sharp beats complement nimble acoustic jazz drumming. Emcees with effortless flow alternate with jazz soloists spinning longform improvisations. Excellent jazz rhythm sections thrive on an album that also features producer tags, interludes and bookends of spoken word. And the lessons in spontaneous creation that guide a classic jazz LP meet the cinematic storytelling that defines so many LPs from hip-hop’s golden age.

At the helm of the proceedings is Paul, whose voice has the sweetness, smoothness and soul of an absolute R&B star, and whose songwriting moves from savvy reflections on street life to profound meditations on the nature of love. His musicianship is equally central: classically trained in jazz, Paul approaches each track as both a producer and improviser, balancing meticulous studio craft with the spontaneity that lies at the heart of the music.

The singles “STAY” and “BETTER MUST COME”, both out now, alongside the previously released “LOOK TO THE SKY” and “SHE F*CK WITH THE RACKS,” offer four distinct entry points into Paul’s expansive musical world - showcasing his command of jazz performance, hip-hop production, rap and neo-soul.

"STAY" is the closest thing to a classic R&B song on the record. It features one of Zach's closest friends, donSMITH. As Zach put it: "I wanted a song that reminded people I have range; that I can step into this lane just as naturally as any other. This isn't me trying R&B. This is part of who I am. Growing up in the church gave me a foundation to understand all these genres, because they're all connected - I couldn't make authentic jazz without understanding gospel, or authentic R&B without understanding jazz, blues and the church. I'm an R&B artist and I'm a jazz artist. The only difference is that I'm presenting this work under the umbrella of jazz, because my mission is to re-centre jazz in a Black cultural context. None of these styles exist in isolation. This record is proof I don't have to choose one lane."

"BETTER MUST COME" is his take on a traditional hymn reworked through his "Swingin' R&B" thing - jazz, gospel and soul with a modern edge, co-produced with DJ OOOCHILD and featuring Happy Qavah, donSMITH, Keenyn Omari on flute and Dezron Douglas on bass.

A love song at heart, “LOOK TO THE SKY” is a captivating examination of the cycle of life and death. It is furiously swinging postbop shot through with spiritual jazz, featuring the great saxophonist/composer Eric Wyatt, who intended this piece as an homage to his late mother, and lyrics by Paul, who reflected on the baby girl he and his spouse have on the way. With a silky smooth voice destined for R&B stardom, Paul also provided the vocals on “LOOK TO THE SKY,” and tapped the talents of GRAMMY Award-nominated jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold for some staggering interplay. The result is not a mere fusion, but an entirely new sound, created by Paul: Swingin’ R&B.

Meanwhile, “SHE F*CK WITH THE RACKS,” tells the story of two ride-or-die homegirls. With its expletive-laden hook, soulful harmonies, and spiraling soprano sax by Kebbi Williams, this track is a pure distillation of Paul’s notion of “jazz money” as a spinoff of the “hood rich” concept: the confluence of elegance and ambition with a street-level sensibility. Paul says, “To me, that's Hood Jazz - music rooted in the neighborhood, informed by tradition, and designed to make people dance while reconnecting them to something greater than themselves.”

With JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B, Zacchae’us Paul makes a compelling case for a more fluid understanding of genre: one where jazz, hip-hop, R&B and soul are not competing identities, but part of the same evolving musical language.

“Personally, this whole album is about how I found love, and that’s especially where the R&B comes in,” he adds. “It’s basically a love album, at the end of the day.”

The album’s predecessor, JAZZ MONEY, earned impressive accolades, including a spot on NPR Music’s list of the “Essential Jazz Discoveries of 2024”: “At its centre,” wrote the critic Nate Chinen, “is a satiny voice, a corps of ace collaborators and the insistence that Black music is still, as Amiri Baraka notably argued, a changing same.” VOL. 2 continues that beyond-genre ethos while also tightening up the delivery. 

TRACKLIST

1. THE INTRODUCTION BY MARSHALL ALLEN

2. SWINGIN' R&B

3. SHE F*CK WITH THE RACKS

4. SISTA SISTA

5. STAY

6. JAZZ MONEY VOL 2

7. LOOK TO THE SKY

8. FUEL

9. NEW ZACH SWING

10. BETTER MUST COME

11. GREATER MUST COME

12. CHERRY LAFFY TAFFY

13. SHE BAD

14. PULL UP ON ME

15. KEYBASS SYMPHONY IN C

16. TEN outta TEN

17. THE ERIC WYATT INTERVIEW

About Zacchae'us Paul

Paul, who is still only 27, was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where his earliest musical breakthroughs occurred as a producer immersed in the ATL’s most prominent hip-hop export, trap. At the same time, his father was a pastor who introduced him to the gospel tradition, and to consistent work as a musician in the church band, where he sang and played keyboards, organ and drums. His love for gospel grew alongside his adoration for classic R&B acts like Earth, Wind & Fire, and in middle school he experienced his jazz revelation when a teacher showed him a lead sheet for John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”

“This was my first time ever seeing a chart in my life,” he recalls. “I had no history of reading music before then, or even having a formal education in music.” But he’d been searching for more interesting chord voicings, and he found them in pianist Duke Ellington as well as in some older gospel records. He went on to study music formally in Puerto Rico and Audio Engineering in Florida, buttressing his passion for R&B and hip-hop with jazz learning.

But he’s never far from hip-hop, even when he’s not playing music. Case in point: Paul recently started a side hustle called Jazz Money Mobile Detailing, which refreshes cars in New York City and Philadelphia. (For real.) That hip-hop-rooted entrepreneurial spirit will serve Paul well in the years to come, as a newly married young man with a new baby daughter. But as he tells it, everything’s interconnected - from detailing cars in Manhattan to playing jazz piano and crafting sprawling masterworks like JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2.

As part of a new wave of jazz artists pushing the boundaries of the genre, Paul is making his mark on the music industry. His debut album, JAZZ MONEY, executive produced by NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington and featuring guest artists like Gregorie Maret, donSMITH, Cisco Swank, and Candid label mate Morgan Guerin, was published in 2024 on Candid Records.