Flea Preps Debut LP Honora

Hard to believe master rock bassist Michael “Flea” Balzary has been a presence in our lives for five decades now.

And yet after all these years, the lifelong member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers still keeps us on our toes. For his latest trick, the 63-year-old is returning to his jazz roots by picking up that trumpet he’d occasionally play at Chili Peppers shows to create a jazz album.

But this isn’t on some André 3000 novice type business. Flea knows how to play the horn, as he’s proven on such prior works as his excellent 2012 EP Helen Burns. And on March 27, he will be taking his deep love for jazz and the modalities of his trumpet to the next level with the release of his long-overdue debut solo album Honora, coming out via Nonesuch Records. 

Named after a beloved family member, the 10-track LP features both original compositions, like the first two singles “A Plea” and the Thom Yorke-assisted “Traffic Lights,” and unique arrangements of classic songs by Jimmy Webb, Frank Ocean and Funkadelic. Aiding Flea in his sonic endeavors, meanwhile, is a well-curated studio band consisting of album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Deantoni Parks.

“Deantoni and I played what became ‘Traffic Lights’ the first day,” Flea explains of the LP’s second single. “Something about it reminded me of Atoms for Peace, so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did. With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the ‘upside down’ and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherf*cker.”

There’s a scene in the 1988 Chet Baker documentary Let’s Get Lost, where Flea shows up on the beach to talk about his trumpet playing and how much Dizzy Gillespie influenced him. All these decades later, Honora finally shows us what’s up.

“It was the greatest thing I ever saw,” Flea said about the first time he saw live jazz as a child. “The wildness, warmth and we of it. Straight Bebop. Boom. I knew there were higher things on this earth, way above the pettiness that had left me disheartened. The holy trifecta of my life, music, sports and nature was complete.”

Until Honora, Flea had never been scared of making music before. He worried that the all-star band he had assembled would think he was “a non-playing motherf*cker, charlatan, rock poseur or fan.” 

But, he says, “It turns out they were all the most genuinely supportive people, moving me deeply and daily with their generous spirits…Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs. I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down.”

Flea and the Honora band embark on an international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities, this May; presales begin at 10am local time on Jan. 20 for EU/UK only, and general on-sale starts at 10am local time on Jan. 23. Dates are below.

 

Honora Tracklist

Golden Wingship

A Plea

Traffic Lights 

Frailed

Morning Cry

Maggot Brain

Wichita Lineman

Thinkin Bout You

Willow Weep for Me

Free As I Want to Be

 

The Honora Tour Dates

May 7 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall

May 9 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House

May 10 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield

May 12 – New York, NY – Webster Hall

May 13 – Washington, DC – Black Cat

May 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre

May 21 – Berlin, DE – Heimathafen

May 22 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

May 26 – London, UK – Koko

May 28 – Paris, FR – Alhambra

 

VIDEO: Flea “A Plea”

 

VIDEO: Flea feat. Thom Yorke “Traffic Lights”