In 2006, Paste Magazine began capturing video performances of some of our favorite bands and Daytrotter began doing the same with audio. We joined forces five years later, and have since combined to capture 11,545 performances (and counting)—at the Paste Studios in Atlanta and New York; at the Daytrotter Studios in Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Ill.; and at venues across the country and even internationally. We pride ourselves on the quality of these sessions and still can’t believe the range of amazing artists we’ve been able to work with. Every weekday we’ll highlight a favorite session from this deep and ever-growing catalog. Enjoy today’s Paste Session of the Day below!
Durand Jones & The Indications
Session Date: August 8, 2017
Location: Paste Studios, New York, NY
Songs: “Smile” | “Is It Any Wonder?” | “True Love”
Credits: Brad Wagner (video), Bob Mallory (audio), Matt Oshinsky (host)
What better way to start this series than with the most viral session we’ve ever recorded. At 55 million views on YouTube (and counting), these videos helped introduce one of our favorite artists to a lot of new people. And honestly, these three tracks were my introduction to the R&B revivalists from Bloomington, Indiana. Three songs, and the world took notice.
Jones was doing postgraduate work specializing in saxophone when he met two other students at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Blake Rhein and Aaron Frazier. They released their first self-titled album in 2016, and that might have been it, except the response was so strong they reunited to tour the next year and found themselves in New York in August. Jones, whose voice is as powerful and soulful as any saxophone, sings lead on two of the tracks, “Smile” and “True Love.” And drummer/vocalist Frazier lends his falsetto to “Is It Any Wonder” with Jones singing harmony. It’s the latter track that first blew up on Paste’s YouTube channel, thanks in part to the Chicano lowrider community who adopted this version as an anthem.
Enjoy the full studio session below or the individual song videos that follow.