Richard Marx reimagines Great American Songbook on new album After Hours

Richard Marx has released After Hours, a swing‑inspired album due Jan. 16 that reworks Great American Songbook standards and pairs them with originals. He recorded the project live in three days with a band of session players and an orchestra.

Marx, 62, said he began the idea after he and his wife, Daisy Fuentes, heard Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” while drinking martinis; he wrote a ballad interlude and then arranged swing renditions of songs including “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Summer Wind” and the Gershwins’ “Love Is Here to Stay.” He also wrote new pieces meant to sit alongside those standards, including “All I Ever Needed” and “Magic Hour.”

In a recent video interview from his home in Hidden Hills, Calif., Marx described recording three takes of each song with no punching in, and said Kenny G appears on “Big Band Boogie,” playing tenor. He reflected on his career — noting his string of Top 5 hits beginning in the MTV era and his work as a songwriter — and on his musical upbringing, with a father who wrote jingles and a mother who sang big‑band music.

Marx also discussed personal matters in the interview, including drinking with Rod Stewart and later experimenting with drugs for hip pain and taking mushrooms during the pandemic. These are edited excerpts of the conversation; how the album will be received by listeners and critics is not addressed in the interview.

Key Topics

Culture, Richard Marx, After Hours, Great American Songbook, Daisy Fuentes, Kenny G