Gadson has hardly ever been recorded singing since the beginning of his career with pioneering soul and funk band Charle Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Band, with whom he had a hit called “Love Land.” “He’s a legend,” says Levine. The second of Levine’s all-time heroes on the record is James Gadson, whom Levine describes as the “best drummer alive.” He certainly is among the most recorded drummers in RnB history, having played with everyone from Bill Withers to Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra to Beck. “It was so soulful, it set the record off on such a nice journey,” says Levine. The track is called “One of These Days,” and it is about unrequited love. “It was such a great thing, hearing it in his voice.” And that was the first track Levine recorded for Boss . When Masekela showed up, they had two hours to get the song down. for two days only, on one of which he would be performing, so Levine quickly wrote his version of the “dream Hugh Masekela song” and demo’d it in his voice. It was a now or never opportunity-Masekela was coming to L.A. Three of his all-time musical heroes are featured on the record. First, Hugh Masekela, the South African singer and trumpet player who contributed to Paul Simon’s Graceland . “Even if the songs all have a different sentiment, the vibe of it is the same.” “It’s my take on those different artists,” he explains. A lot more grooves and rhythm. And it leans on a few key influences-that 1980s British take on RnB, and splashes of deep house.” When people ask him whether it has been hard finding continuity between the tracks, because they have all been recorded with different artists, Levine reminds them of the common denominator. “It still has an emotional through lin in that there is soul in every song, but it’s generally more optimistic and up tempo. Boss has an entirely different flavor, he explains. Levine decided to try his hand at production and found himself working with artists such as Mickey Avalon, Hugh Masekela, Ariel Pink, Pete Yorn and the Happy Mondays. Levine recently wrapped up his third solo album, Hush Now, an “emotional rollercoaster” of a record. Becoming part of the family business was a no-brainer. John, Minnie Riperton, and Jamie Cullum) and his uncle is producer QD3 (Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube). Music is in Sunny Levine’s blood-his grandfather is Quincy Jones, his father is producer Stewart Levine (Simply Red, Joe Cocker, BB King, Dr. When Levine returns, he will have about two weeks to take care of overdubs and mixing it will be a sprint to the finish for sure, but luckily for Levine, making music- on his own and with others-is what he was born to do.

Levine will be up until 4 a.m. tonight wrapping everything up before getting on a plane to New York in the morning, where he is recording yet another track for the album, with Brooklyn indie singer Nick Nauman of Keepaway. Today, RnB singer Orelia is coming to the studio to lay down her vocal track, but before she arrives, Young Dad is going to stop by and record some bass lines for the track Rashida recorded the night before.

“So I just picked everybody that I would want towork with and made a mixtape, basically. “I didn’t want to make another record where I am the artist,” explains Levine at his studio one afternoon.

His collaborators include drummer James Gadson (Bill Withers, Beck), his aunt the actress Rashida Jones, and his friend Amir Yaghmai aka Young Dad, one of L.A.’s most in-demand indie guitarists, who plays in Julian Casablancas’ band and toured with Charlotte Gainsbourg. 1, featuring no less than 14 songs by 14 different musicians, all of them written and recorded by Levine in his Los Angeles studio. Sunny Levine is just days away from finishing his most ambitious collaborative project to date, Boss Selections Vol.

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