Solo albums by musicians from established bands can be interesting beasts - not least when discovering which route they’ve decided to take with their own music. Will they be conservative and carry on with no deviation from the normal; will they run for the hills and bring something completely different to the table; or will they take a middle road and just fiddle around the margins of their day job?
Flea – former Beavis and Butthead favourite and bass player for US rock megastars, Red Hot Chilli Peppers – has very much jumped ship from the day-to-day with his first solo album. For Honora is by all measures a jazz album and a thousand miles away from the Chilli Pepper’s sound.
As well as new compositions, there are reinterpretations and re-imaginings of tunes by artists as diverse as Funkadelic, Frank Ocean, Art Tatum and Jimmy Webb and there are contributions from the likes of Nick Cave and Thom Yorke. However, Honora has clearly been a real labour of love for one of the world’s most famous musicians – not least because he puts down his bass for most of these songs and plays trumpet instead.
In fact, the highlights of Honora are many and they are all magnificent. “A Plea” comes on like cool beatnik jazz with Lenny Bruce-like spoken lyrics, while Eddie Hazel’s famous guitar solo on the fantastic “Maggot Brain” is reinterpreted by Flea on his horn. Nick Cave is invited along to sing “Witchita Lineman” as a beautiful torch song and “Morning Cry” could easily have once fitted snuggly into Dizzy Gilespie’s setlist. Final tune, “Free as I Want to Be” even has more than a little in common with Don Cherry’s tripped out Organic Music, with its chilled, shuffling groove and chanted vocals.
In short, Honora is a fine album which should certainly get plenty of attention and plaudits. However, quite what the majority of Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ fans will make of it is anyone’s guess.
