Maxwell has always done things his own way, so when it came time to introduce people to the music from his forthcoming album trilogy Black Summers' Night, he knew exactly how he'd do it: he'd perform it for them live. Says Maxwell, "I've been working on and off on the Black Summers' Night trilogy and thought the best way to debut it was to take it direct to the people. Nothing beats a live show. You can't mp3 it. You can record it on a camera phone, but it'll never duplicate the raw experience of being there. In this day and age, we need that, and I need that."

But he adds that the show won't consist of entirely new material: "A few new songs from Black Summer's Night will be included in the concerts, but rest assured that as much as I want to, I won't bombard people with material they don't know." There will, however, be a few unexpected numbers, including a cover of Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" (which earned Maxwell raves when he performed it at the BET Awards earlier this year) and "an extra one that represents my love for Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. It's not what you think though — I'm not a rapper, and I won't rap, but when you hear it," explains Maxwell, "it'll make sense!"