Veteran trumpter Keyon Harold tapped keyboardist PJ Morton to bring his talent to his track, ““Beautiful Day.”
“Beautiful Day” is the focus track from Keyon’s highly anticipated album, Foreverland, which released on January 19. Blending a unique hybrid of jazz and hip-hop/R&B, Foreverland is a special curation of 10 original tracks and includes special guests Common, Robert Glasper, and more.
On the optimistic record, Morton sings about embracing what life has to offer. We can choose peace even in tumultuous moments, as there’s always a glimmer of light ready to shine.
“I know you’ve been hurtin’ / So just let the sunlight in / Just forget what they say / What do they know anyway / Today is a beautiful day,” Morton sings.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to create music that comes from the heart and soul,” says Harrold. “‘Beautiful Day’ is a song that PJ Morton and I wrote together in New Orleans, after a heart-to-heart conversation about life.”
Harrold continues, “We’ve been making music together for years, and every collaboration is just as special as the last. PJ is truly one of my favorite songwriters and artists, and it was an absolute honor to create ‘Beautiful Day’ for my Foreverland album.”
Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO to a musical family – the son of pastors and one of 16 children, and moved to New York to study at The Mannes Conservatory of Music at The New School. While there he landed his first major gig with Common, an experience which he says broadened his musical horizons beyond jazz to include funk, Afrobeat, R&B, and hip hop. He released his solo album, Introducing Keyon Harrold, in 2009, and then won wide acclaim for his trumpet performances in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, which featured him on the GRAMMY-winning soundtrack for the film.
The vinyl version of Foreverland will be released March 1.