It’s late in the day when John Legend calls to talk about a pair of new projects. First up, a new album of solo piano arrangements of songs mostly from “Legend,” his double album from September 2022.

Next, and closely connected, a pair of solo performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 13-14.

The piano-playing singer-songwriter has been busy. When he called, Legend had just finished a taping of “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” Less than 24 hours earlier, he’d featured prominently in the finale of the Grammy Awards, a performance of DJ Khaled’s “God Will” that also included Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and Fridayy and a piano lavishly covered in food.

“Legend (Solo Piano Version)” arrived Wednesday with 10 reimagined takes on songs from his recent record, as well as covers of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Sade’s “By Your Side.” Many of those will surface at Walt Disney Concert Hall in shows billed as An Evening with John Legend: A Night of Songs and Stories.

We talked about the record and the concerts, but first, we had to know if his piano at Walt Disney Concert Hall would be as covered with snacks as it was at the Grammys.

“No, it’ll be a little more understated,” Legend says, laughing. “Not so decadent as Sunday night. We were going for like a Last Supper vibe for ‘God Did,’ but it was quite a feast for the Last Supper.”.

Playing alongside DJ Khaled and an all-star lineup of guest rappers around a table set in the middle of the street outside Crypto.com Arena was both spectacular and surreal, Legend says.

“As someone said on the internet, I looked like I was at the little kids’ table, though, because I was on the piano at the side,” he says. “But it was amazing to be part of it.

“I mean, Jay-Z is obviously the MVP of that song, and just a genius at lyrics and delivery,” Legend says of the rap star whose verse ran uninterrupted for four minutes in the number. “I think that’s what made the song special to start with. And doing that with him and then Rick and Wayne and Fridayy, it was just a special moment.

Here, in an interview edited for length and clarity, is what we learned about the upcoming concerts, the new album, how he picks a cover song, and more.

Q: Let’s talk about what you have planned for Disney Hall. It’s you and your piano and no one else?

A: It’s just me, and it’ll be storytelling, singing. I don’t know if you’ve heard the Audible Words and Music that I did. They have a series where they feature artists and their stories, however they want to tell them. We recorded that in London at Ronnie Scott’s, the legendary jazz venue. So it’ll be somewhat similar to that.

Q: So between songs you might tell a story about it or some inspiration?

A: About my life, about my family, about my origins in music. Growing up in the church to the early years when I was trying to get a record deal. How I became John Legend versus John Stephens. Stories that led me to where I am now.

Q: Playing a whole show solely by yourself must be a pretty demanding format for a concert.

A: It is demanding but I’ve done it quite a lot. Even at church, growing up, there were often times when I had to carry everything. It was maybe me and my brother on drums, but I was the only melodic instrument in any setting. So I just got used to handling the whole instrumentation by myself.

I love that format for a show because it allows me to really connect with the audience. And as a songwriter, it’s fun because it really kind of exposes the song fully. You can really listen to the lyrics and connect directly with how the song was written.

Q: How did you choose which songs on the “Legend” double album to reinterpret for piano on the new record?

A: Honestly, I just tried to imagine what the solo version was telling. Like sometimes I would sit and play ideas for the arrangement and just see if it felt good, felt like I’d want to listen to that. I tried some that I didn’t end up liking so I didn’t use them. And the ones that we did end up using I just felt really good about my approach to playing them and how the song felt in that new arrangement.

Q: Do you start most of your songs as piano versions? Or do they start as collaborations in the studio? How much work did it take to strip them down to the piano?

A: Some of both. There’s some songs we start on the piano and then build up with full arrangements. Some I work with producers and cowriters who maybe provide an instrument idea and then I’ll write the top line. So it’s gone either way.

Believe it or not, ‘All Of Me’ we originally wrote with like a four-to-the-floor beat. So the Tiesto remix that came much later kind of sounds like a better version of our rough demo of the original. But then we realized the song would stand so well on its own that we made the main version of the song just stripped back with piano.

Q: I feel like I saw you play ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ on a TV or awards show before. Tell me about including the Simon & Garfunkel and Sade songs on the new record.

A; Yes, I did it honoring Aretha Franklin, a version that was similar to her version when the Grammys did the salute to Aretha. Then I’ve done it on my live show a lot. I did it every night in Vegas during the residency and I did it every night on one of my tours a few years ago. And my fans have been asking me to put a version out for years, so I felt like now that I’m finally doing a solo piano album this is a good time.

Then ‘By Your Side’ was a suggestion by one of my management team. I toured with Sade back in 2011. Love her, I’m a big fan. And that song, the more I imagined my voice on it and imagined how I would play it, it just felt like the right song for me to cover.

Q: I saw you cover Led Zeppelin’s ‘All Of My Love’ and the Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ at the Hollywood Bowl a few years ago. What’s your approach to choosing and arranging cover songs in general?

A: Part of it is just thinking about a song that I love and an artist I love. Sometimes it’s about doing something that’s a bit unexpected. So I often do a ‘Dancing In The Dark’ cover that is very different from Bruce’s original version. If I feel I can do something a little bit unexpected with the song, it usually excites me the most.

But then I’ve also done things that are probably more expected like covering Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. And those are just songs that I love that I feel like I’ll sound good doing.

Q: As far as the Grammys, you’ve been part of it for nearly 20 years, since winning best new artist. What’s it like attending now versus when you first started?

A: Yeah, 2006 was when I won best new artist. I think I know a lot more people. I feel very at home and comfortable there. I’m a trustee of the Recording Academy as well. I just feel at home and among friends now at the Grammys. And we’ve done so many different types of performances, whether it was my own songs or tributes or in memoriam. A little bit of everything.

I do get a little nervous when I’m performing there just because it’s like one song. you don’t get to warm up to it. It’s just like those three or four minutes of being in the spotlight in front of all your favorite artists. So unlike most circumstances when I sing, I do feel a little extra butterflies there.

Q: Are the Disney Hall shows your only solo ones this year or will you play more like this?

A: I’ll spread them out throughout the year. I told my team I didn’t want to tour because we just had a baby and I want to be home more. But we’ll kind of spread them out and do maybe a weekend here, a weekend there. I know we have one scheduled for Wolf Trap in Virginia, and then we’ll probably do a few more throughout the year.

Q: You mentioned spending more time with your family – are your kids and your wife OK with you working on Valentine’s Day on Tuesday?

A: Yeah, they’re going to come. It’ll be a family night at the Disney Concert Hall.

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