Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea announces jazz album
He has returned to his first instrument, the trumpet
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea will release his modern jazz solo album in 2026 via Nonesuch Records.
The as-yet-untitled record will see Flea – real name Michael Peter Balzary – return to his first instrument of choice, the trumpet.
As a taster for his very first solo album, Flea has premiered the lead single ‘A Plea’, and he performs trumpet, electric bass and vocals on the track.
His band on the track features double bassist Anna Butterss, guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Deantoni Parks, percussionist Mauro Refosco, alto flutist Rickey Washington, and trombonist Vikram Devasthali.
Chris Warren joins on vocals, as does the song’s producer Josh Johnson, who also plays alto saxophone.
The accompanying music video was directed by Flea’s daughter Clara Balzary, and it sees Flea bust some crazy moves thanks to choreography from Sadie Wilking.
Watch Flea’s ‘A Plea’ video:
Flea says the weighty lyrics in ‘A Plea’ are a comment on growing global divisiveness, describing them as “yearning for a place beyond, a place of love, for me to speak my mind and be myself. I’m always just trying to be myself.”
He adds: “I don’t care about the act of politics. I think there is a much more transcendent place above it where there’s discourse to be had that can actually help humanity, and actually help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world. There’s a place where we meet, and it’s love.”
Back in March, Nick Cave let slip that he’s guesting on a track on Flea’s trumpet album.
“Last week, Flea sent me a song and asked if I’d like to add some vocals. It was for a ‘trumpet record’ that he is making,” Cave wrote on his website.
“It is not for me to divulge what the song was, only that it is a song I cherish more than most, with arguably the greatest lyric ever written, a song of such esteem that I would never have dared to sing it had Flea not asked me to.
“I went into the studio on Wednesday and recorded my vocals. The track emerged as a beautiful conversation between Flea’s trumpet and my voice, filled with yearning and love, the song transcending its individual parts and becoming a slowly evolving cosmic dance, in the form of a reconciliation and an apology.”
Flea was a keen trumpeter and jazz aficionado during his childhood and performed the instrument on Jane’s Addiction’s 1988 album ‘Nothing’s Shocking.’
He has also played trumpet in concert and in 2008 he studied music theory, composition and jazz trumpet at the University of Southern California.