Review: Flea – Honora

Sometimes the label ‘jazz’ is a bit of a stretch – if you don’t know how to categorise something that uses both acoustic and electronic instruments, features wind instruments but does without a string orchestra, and isn’t clearly close enough to any other genre, then it must be jazz, as if jazz were a catch-all for labelling difficulties. And then it sticks. And it’s wrong. The same applies to Honora, Flea’s solo album.

Do you know Flea? He’s best known as the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band often associated with the alternative scene. Now he’s released his solo album. It’s called Honora, it’s labelled as jazz, but it’s far more than that. It kicks off with a quasi-psychedelic intro (‘Golden Wingship’) and continues with 70s-style fusion (‘A Plea’). There are traditional jazz elements (Morning Cry), which come across as slightly ironic, and electronic (Frailed), borrowings from classical and minimal music (Maggot Brain), as well as warm vocal passages (Wichita Lineman) and much more. The album, as you’ve no doubt already guessed, is more of a medley of possibilities than a genre-specific category to dwell on.

Honora, which Flea has named after a family member without revealing which one, brings together a total of ten tracks. Five of the tracks are Flea’s own compositions; he wrote ‘Traffic Lights’ together with Josh Johnson and Thom Yorke; and four tracks are interpretations of others’ compositions: ‘Maggot Brain’ by George Clinton and Edward Earl Hazel, ‘Thinkin’ Bout You’ by Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor, ‘Wichita Lineman’ by Jimmy Webb, and ‘Willow Weep For Me’ by Ann Ronell.

For this unconventional album, Flea not only played bass but also took on trumpet and vocals. Other vocalists include Nick Cave and Thom Yorke; Chris Warren was brought in for backing vocals, as were double bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Deantoni Parks, guitarist Jeff Parker, and saxophonist and pianist Josh Johnson. Nathaniel Walcott plays both keyboards and trumpet, Mauro Refosco plays a variety of percussion instruments, Vikram Devasthali plays the trombone and Ricky Washington can be heard on the alto flute. This is a solid dozen musicians who fill a good 52 minutes with fine music.

The listening room is also well filled, as the mix is wonderfully expansive. The soundstage is deep and wide, the performers are well distributed across the space and clearly defined – ‘Free As I Want To Be’, with its variety of sound sources, makes this particularly clear. And the mix is wonderfully clear and unobtrusive, yet not in the least bit academic or even sterile. Thus, fine music becomes music of the very finest quality.

Definitely recommended. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Flea, lead vocals, bass, trumpet
Additional musicians:
Thom Yorke, lead vocals, piano, synthesizer (track 3)
Nick Cave, lead vocals (track 7)
Mauro Refosco, percussion
Nathaniel Walcott, trumpet, keyboards
Josh Johnson, saxophone, synthesizer, piano, backing vocals
Jeff Parker, guitar, backing vocals
Anna Butterss, double bass, backing vocals
Deantoni Parks, drums, backing vocals
Chris Warren, backing vocals
Ricky Washington, alto flute
Vikram Devasthali, trombone