Neo-soul icon Maxwell coming to New Orleans during Bayou Classic weekend

NEW ORLEANS (NOLA WEEKEND) - Grammy Award-winning R&B artist Maxwell will stop in New Orleans for a show during Bayou Classic weekend.

Since last year, the neo-soul icon has been touring the country on his critically-acclaimed “The Night Tour.” This fall, Maxwell will join the unofficial 2023 Bayou Classic weekend lineup, bringing his next act, “NIGHT: The Trilogy Show,” to the Smoothie King Center on Nov. 24.

Soulful songstress Leela James has been confirmed as the show opener.

Organizers say ticket revenue benefits the Southern University System Foundation and the five campuses of the Southern University system. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

As one of the leading voices of the ‘90s neo-soul movement, Maxwell released five studio albums over the past two decades, yielding hits such as “Pretty Wings,” “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” “Fortunate” and “Lifetime.” The singer redefined soul music when he released his critically-acclaimed 1996 debut album “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.”

The singer was scheduled to release his next album, “blacksummers’NIGHT,” in Spring 2022, but the release has since been delayed. A release announcing Maxwell’s performance describes his upcoming album as “one of the most-anticipated R&B events of 2023,” signaling a release sometime this year. However, an exact release date hasn’t been announced.

The new album will mark the third installment in the singer’s trilogy that began with 2009′s BLACKsummers’night and continued with blackSUMMERS’night in 2016.