Music is affirmative action for
HIS musical influences range from Bob Dylan and Bob Marley to Ben Harper and Queen, but Jason Mraz (pronounced Mer-Azz; it’s Czech for “frost”) keeps fans engaged thanks to the positive messages in his soulful, folk-pop sound.
In the 15 years since he began performing in a San Diego coffeehouse, he has sold 48-million singles and earned platinum or multiplatinum certifications in more than 20 countries worldwide. His record-breaking classic single, I’m Yours, received two Grammy Award nominations in 2009 (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year). Mraz then went on to win his first two Grammy Awards in 2010: Best Pop Collaboration (Lucky with Colbie Caillat) and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (Make It Mine).
“It was almost uneventful,” he recalls. “Like many people who win Grammys, mine was one of those that were announced in the pretelecast. I was on the red carpet with my dad. Between interviews, someone came up and whispered in my ear, ‘You won them both.’ That was it. I was like, ‘Really? That’s it? I won them both?’ The Grammys hadn’t even started!”
Despite the anticlimax, winning the awards (he is also the recipient of a prestigious Hal David Songwriter Hall of Fame Award) was encouraging. That is the conclusion he came to when, a few days after the ceremony, he found himself in an Austin studio with singer-songwriter and guitarist Willie Nelson.
“I was taking control of this track because you only get a little bit of time with Willie,” he says. “And I kept thinking, ‘Hey man, you just got these two Grammys. You can do this.’ And it was awesome. Willie ended up giving me like 17 takes — more than two hours of his time. It was the Grammys victory, only a few days prior, that gave me the confidence.”
No doubt the boost followed him all the way to the release of YES! in July last year. It was a conscious decision to fill this, his fifth album, with songs of love, friendship, healing and hope.
“The themes on the album are very much the same themes I’ve written about: optimism, faith, acceptance, gratitude,” he says.
“I always feel a song should be an affirmation of some kind. It should get you through the present moment and into a more loving or realised future.”
The biggest difference on this album compared with his previous ones is that he wrote just about every song with collaborators and longtime friends Raining Jane, a Los Angeles-based folk group. The sound made by the five of them helped the album come to life.
“I instantly fell in love with their musicianship,” says Mraz, who’s opened for artists including Tracy Chapman and Alanis Morissette, and even performed with Eric Clapton in London’s Hyde Park and Royal Albert Hall. “So the five of us sit in a circle and we just play music. It doesn’t matter who starts on what instrument or who is singing.”
After sold-out performances in Australia and Asia (and a successful tour to the US), Mraz is now set to perform in SA for the first time. Even though he has performed in large amphitheatres and arenas across the globe (and has sold out iconic venues such as The Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, and London’s O2 Arena),