One of the founding voices of the neo soul movement is bringing an intimate night of music to downtown Mobile. Singer-songwriter Maxwell performs at the Saenger Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 14, with special guest Marsha Ambrosius, as part of his “50 Intimate Nights Live Tour.” Doors open at 7 p.m. at the theater, located at 6 S. Joachim St., with tickets ranging from $26.50 to $96.50 through Ticketmaster.
Since his debut album, Maxwell has built a following with a smooth, passionate brand of R&B rooted in the soul sounds of the 1970s. The tour blends crowd favorites with deep cuts pulled from across his catalog, spanning from his breakout “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite” to his more recent “BLACKsummers’night” project, giving longtime fans and newer listeners alike a set list built for true fans.
In a recent interview ahead of the tour, Maxwell reflected on his role in helping shape the neo soul sound of the 1990s, crediting the movement to a group of artists including D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, The Fugees and Mary J. Blige. He said he sees neo soul as part of a broader, ever-evolving soul tradition that continues today through movements like Afropunk.
“I see neo soul as a movement of not only hip-hop and hip-hop/soul, but I also see it continuing in the current movement that I see today, which is the Afropunk movement,” Maxwell said. “I think it’s just another label within a tradition that is soul music, which is always ever-evolving.”
Maxwell recently performed at Afropunk Paris, an experience he described as one of the more memorable moments of his career, both because of the timing, the show fell on the day France won the World Cup, and because of the young age of the crowd. He said seeing fans in their early 20s embracing music he recorded decades earlier was a powerful reminder of how his catalog has carried across generations.
The singer also discussed his latest single, “The Glass House (We Never Saw It Coming),” which he said was inspired in part by his relationship with the late Harry Belafonte, whom he called an idol and a major influence on his approach to music and advocacy. Maxwell said the song and its accompanying video, shot with directors Gerald Bush and Christopher Renz, grew out of a project he had been working on with Belafonte before it was delayed.
Maxwell said the “50 Intimate Nights” tour, now more than two decades into his touring career, is about giving longtime fans the songs they expect while also experimenting with the set list each night. “I just want to meet the people who made me become what I am now,” he said. “I wanna have fun with them just like I did when I was 23 years old.”
He teased that a new album is on the way, along with a larger, more curated tour to follow, but said fans coming to the Mobile show should expect a set built around feeling rather than formula, mixing hits with songs he believes deserved more attention the first time around.