Flea releases the album he has aspired to make for more than 35 years, Honora, today on Nonesuch Records. After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, he has returned to his first musical loves, jazz and trumpet. The New York Times says the album’s ten songs “embody a deep pathos.” This first full-length solo record features six original tracks composed and arranged by Flea – including “A Plea” and “Traffic Lights” (feat. Thom Yorke) – as well as interpretations of Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor’s “Thinkin Bout You,” George Clinton and Eddie Hazel’s “Maggot Brain,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me.” Watch the new visualizer for “Wichita Lineman” (feat. Nick Cave) and all other album visuals with direction, animation, and illustration by nespy5euro.
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Flea releases the album he has aspired to make for more than 35 years, Honora, today on Nonesuch Records. After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, he has returned to his first musical loves, jazz and trumpet. The New York Times says the album’s ten songs “embody a deep pathos.” This first full-length solo record features six original tracks composed and arranged by Flea – including “A Plea” and “Traffic Lights” (feat. Thom Yorke) – as well as interpretations of Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor’s “Thinkin Bout You,” George Clinton and Eddie Hazel’s “Maggot Brain,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me."
While Flea plays trumpet and bass throughout the album, he is joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks, with special vocal performances from Thom Yorke on “Traffic Lights” and Nick Cave on “Wichita Lineman,” contributions from Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and more.
This May, Flea and the Honora band embark on a sold-out international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities in North America and Europe. Earlier this week, they made their live debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch Flea, Josh Johnson, Jeff Parker, Anna Butterss, Deantoni Parks and a ten-piece orchestra perform “Thinkin Bout You,” and see Flea discuss his journey to Honora, an early encounter with Dizzy Gillespie and more in his interview with Fallon here.
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 sat down to talk with Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride to talk about his new album Honora. Hear their conversation here:
Flea’s Debut Solo Album 'Honora' Out Now on Nonesuch Records
Flea releases the album he has aspired to make for more than 35 years, Honora, today on Nonesuch Records. After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, he has returned to his first musical loves, jazz and trumpet. The New York Times says the album’s ten songs “embody a deep pathos.” This first full-length solo record features six original tracks composed and arranged by Flea – including “A Plea” and “Traffic Lights” (feat. Thom Yorke) – as well as interpretations of Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor’s “Thinkin Bout You,” George Clinton and Eddie Hazel’s “Maggot Brain,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me."
While Flea plays trumpet and bass throughout the album, he is joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks, with special vocal performances from Thom Yorke on “Traffic Lights” and Nick Cave on “Wichita Lineman,” contributions from Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and more.
This May, Flea and the Honora band embark on a sold-out international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities in North America and Europe. Earlier this week, they made their live debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch Flea, Josh Johnson, Jeff Parker, Anna Butterss, Deantoni Parks and a ten-piece orchestra perform “Thinkin Bout You,” and see Flea discuss his journey to Honora, an early encounter with Dizzy Gillespie and more in his interview with Fallon here.
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 sat down to talk with Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride to talk about his new album Honora. Hear their conversation here:
Flea’s Debut Solo Album 'Honora' Out Now on Nonesuch Records
Flea releases the album he has aspired to make for more than 35 years, Honora, today on Nonesuch Records. After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, he has returned to his first musical loves, jazz and trumpet. The New York Times says the album’s ten songs “embody a deep pathos.” This first full-length solo record features six original tracks composed and arranged by Flea – including “A Plea” and “Traffic Lights” (feat. Thom Yorke) – as well as interpretations of Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor’s “Thinkin Bout You,” George Clinton and Eddie Hazel’s “Maggot Brain,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me."
While Flea plays trumpet and bass throughout the album, he is joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks, with special vocal performances from Thom Yorke on “Traffic Lights” and Nick Cave on “Wichita Lineman,” contributions from Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and more.
This May, Flea and the Honora band embark on a sold-out international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities in North America and Europe. Earlier this week, they made their live debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch Flea, Josh Johnson, Jeff Parker, Anna Butterss, Deantoni Parks and a ten-piece orchestra perform “Thinkin Bout You,” and see Flea discuss his journey to Honora, an early encounter with Dizzy Gillespie and more in his interview with Fallon here.
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 sat down to talk with Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride to talk about his new album Honora. Hear their conversation here:
Robert Plant’s Saving Grace: All That Glitters... is now available digitally. The EP, previously released on vinyl for Record Store Day, follows Plant’s 2025 critically acclaimed album, Saving Grace; both feature singer Suzi Dian and a band of musicians from the English countryside that Plant calls home. The EP’s four tracks further explore the folk and Americana songs that Plant and the band love: the traditional tunes “The Blackest Crow” and “Two Coats,” Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl,” and Bert Jansch’s “Poison.” The video for "The Blackest Crow," made by Saving Grace cellist Barney Morse-Brown, may be seen here. Plant and the band are now touring the US.
Guitarist Jeff Parker shares a cover of John Coltrane’s composition “Miles’ Mode” in celebration of Coltrane’s 100th birthday. Parker is joined by Chris Speed (The Bad Plus) on tenor saxophone, Kaveh Rastegar (Kneebody) on electric bass, and Aaron Steele (Chrome Sparks) on drums for this recording. Parker says: “John Coltrane has been a steady muse for me ever since I started to study his music at a young age. It’s an honor to pay tribute to him on the occasion of his centennial with three of my favorite musicians from the Los Angeles music community.” Additionally, a limited-edition color vinyl reissue of Parker’s Suite for Max Brown, his 2020 album that features a Coltrane cover, “After the Rain,” is available October 23, available to pre-order now.
