Columbia Records Announces the Release of 'BLACKsummers'night' (Part 1 of a Trilogy) the Long Awaited New Full-Length Album from Maxwell

Columbia Records is proud to announce the release of BLACKsummers'night, the heavily-anticipated new studio album from the groundbreaking modern soul artist Maxwell, on Tuesday, July 7.

BLACKsummers'night is the first full-length Maxwell release since Now, his critically-acclaimed third studio album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 in August 2001.

BLACKsummers'night is the sensuous opening installment of the artist's monumental BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT trilogy. (The trilogy's subsequent chapters, blackSUMMERS'night and blacksummers'NIGHT, are slated for release in 2010 and 2011 respectively.)

"Pretty Wings," the first single from BLACKsummers'night, will be available through digital service providers on Tuesday, April 28. A video for the song will premiere that same day on BET's "106 & Park" and on musze.com, Maxwell's website.

BLACKsummers'night reunites Maxwell with long-time collaborator Hod David, who serves as co-producer and co-writer of the album. Striving for an emotional authenticity and real world sound for the album, Maxwell and Hod recorded the entire album live in the studio with an a-list ensemble of elegantly sympathetic musicians.

Maxwell -- who is scheduled to headline the main stage of the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 4, 2009 -- will be taking his new music on the road with a major North American tour in support of BLACKsummers'night. Cities along Maxwell's 2009 tour route will include Milwaukee (Sat-June 20), Seattle (Tue-June 23), Vancouver (Wed-June 24), Las Vegas (Fri-June 26), Los Angeles-BET (Sun-June 28), Phoenix (Mon-June 29), Austin (Wed-July 1), San Antonio (Thu-July 3), New Orleans (Sat-July 4), Nashville (Sun-July 12), Louisville (Mon-July 13), Columbus (Wed-July 15), Cleveland (Thu-July 16), Pittsburgh (Sat-July 18), Buffalo (Sun-July 19), Albany (Tue-July 21), Atlantic City (Fri-July 24), Foxwoods (Sat-July 25), Norfolk (Mon-July 27), Savannah (Tue-July 28), Tampa (Thu-July 30), Miami (Sat-August 1), and Orlando (Sun-August 2).

Following an extraordinary performance of Al Green's "Simply Beautiful," his first television appearance in seven years, at the 2008 BET Awards in June 2008, Maxwell launched his 2008 BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT US tour, his first live shows in six years, that October. When all 144,000 tickets for the tour sold-out within minutes of going on sale, the tour was extended from 26 to 33 cities. Positive critical response to Maxwell's' tour was unanimous. The New York Times praised Maxwell's Radio City Music Hall concert as "exquisite" and "powerful" while the Boston Herald lauded his "awesome talent." Maxwell premiered new songs from BLACKsummers'night during his 2008 fall tour, among them "Pretty Wings," "Bad Habits," "Never Do Without You," "Help Somebody," and "Cold."

Maxwell's debut concert in South African sold-out some 10,000 seats. Following his breathtaking performance at the Macufe Music Festival in South Africa on October 4, 2008, Maxwell was honored with South African citizenship. BET's "Access Granted" aired exclusive footage from the concert as well as Maxwell's first televised interview in seven years, on October 17, 2008.

Maxwell began redefining classic soul music for a new generation with the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, in April 1996. Fueled in part by the RIAA gold single, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)," the Grammy-nominated Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was certified platinum in March 1997, less than a year after its release, and achieved double platinum status, in recognition of sales of more than 2 million copies in the US alone, in 2002. Maxwell followed up with his MTV Unplugged EP, released in July 1997 and certified gold in September 1999. His second full-length album, Embrya, was released in June 1998 and certified platinum in May 1999. Another Maxwell single, the hit "Fortunate," was certified gold in June 1999. To date, Maxwell has achieved 10 gold and platinum certifications from the RIAA for his albums and singles.

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SOURCE: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Yvette Noel-Schure, Columbia Records, Media, New York,
+1-212-833-4483, Yvette.Noel-Schure@sonymusic.com, or Rebecca Shapiro, Shore
Fire Media, +1-718-522-7171 x16, rshapiro@shorefire.com

Web Site: http://www.columbiarecords.com/