Album: NPG Q (2014)

2013: Joshuaworld ◄

Unreleased Albums (Prince)

Unreleased Albums (Related Artists)

► 2014: Untitled 3rdEyeGirl album

NPG Q Untitled album

Album details Intended Release Date: 2014 Label(s): NPG Records Studio(s): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA See also

This entry details an untitled instrumental album by NPG Q, recorded in August 2014. NPG Q (short for NPG Quartet) was a band assembled by Prince in July 2014, that comprised John Blackwell on drums, Andrew Gouché on bass, Marcus Anderson on saxophone and Xavier Taplin on keyboards. The band played with Kandace Springs at her show at Paisley Park Studios on 26 July 2014 broadcast live on 3rdEye TV. While reflecting on the album’s history, Andrew Gouché posted the following story on his social medias in 2025: "Prince called me on the phone and said he wanted to put a jazz quartet together, and wanted to know if I knew a Gospel keyboard player that could solo. I told him I know just a guy, and introduced him to Dominique Xavier Taplin. He was amazed at Xavier’s ability, and he’s absolute fearlessness when he played so, Prince brought Xavier, Marcus Anderson, John Blackwell, and myself together at Paisley. We met with him briefly and then he said, "I’ll see you guys later" and left the room. Everyone had this spot to look on their face, and I sent to them you know what he’s doing right? He wants to see what we’re going to do. We didn’t hear from him for a week until he called me and I asked how it was going. I told him that we had written 15 songs. He said, oh really? OK, I’m going to come tomorrow and listen. So he came the next day and we started playing songs and he absolutely loved it, so much so that he said "OK we’re going to invite people tomorrow to come and we’re gonna record live". So he tweeted out that the NPGQ was going to record live the next day in about 300 people showed up at Paisley Park the music sounded great, but the drums were not mic’d correctly, so Prince said that we would go into the studio on the following Monday and record everything there. So we recorded 9 songs in Studio A at Paisley. ." The show, billed as the “Supermoon Recording Session”, was held at Paisley Park on 10 August 2014. The name of the 4-piece band mentioned on the flyer was NPJazz. Ten songs were played that night, beginning with Hit It And Quit It, in fact a cover of Chameleon and most likely not slated for the album. Prince guested for the first two songs during the show. When asked on Twitter if the show was recorded and if it will be released, @3RDEYEGIRL replied: "BAND IN STUDIO A MIXING IT DOWN NOW" Nik West confirmed that the band was working on the tracks by posting a video on Tumblr with Andrew Gouché, Xavier Taplin and Kirk Johnson listening to Mind Of J at Paisley Park Studios. Further sessions were done and Prince added his guitar to the songs. A month later on 18 September 2014, Dr Funkenberry tweeted: ""NPG Q" NEW RECORD OF 9 SONGS WITH PRINCE, ANDREW GOUCHÉ, JOHN BLACKWELL, XAVIER AND MARCUS ANDERSON" NPG Q played EBlues and Shaft during the release-party for the Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum albums at Paisley Park Studios on 30 September 2014. The planned album was shelved when John Blackwell left to tour with D’Angelo in October. Andrew Gouché has confirmed that Mind Of J (written by John Blackwell and previously released with his band, the John Blackwell Project, on their “4Ever Jia” album), his own Way Back When (that he wrote and would release on his first album "We Don’t Need No Bass" in a re-recorded form in 2015) and There’s That (written by Marcus Anderson) were also planned for the NPG Q album. Additionally, Marcus Anderson wrote Dandelion solely, after Prince told him a story about his father. The track was later re-recorded with other musicians, and released by Anderson in 2017 on his “Limited Edition” album. Nothing is known about Trojan Horse, EBlues, 6/8 Joint, Shaft and Dome except that they were not written by Prince. It is assumed that Prince produced the album and played guitar on all the tracks of the NPG Q album. All of the songs recorded for the NPG Q project remain unreleased. Track listing CD The specific sequence of tracks is unknown, but tracks believed to have been included, listed here in the sequence they were played in the session, are: Trojan Horse Way Back When 1 Mind Of J 2 Dandelion 3 Shaft 6/8 Joint There’s That 3 Dome EBlues All tracks assumed to be written collectively by John Blackwell, Marcus Anderson, Andrew Gouché and Xavier Taplin, except where noted: 1 : Written by Andrew Gouché 2 : Written by John Blackwell 3 : Written by Marcus Anderson Personnel Musicians John Blackwell - drums Andrew Gouché - bass Marcus Anderson - saxophone Xavier Taplin - keyboards Prince – guitar Production Prince - producer (assumed) Other production details unknown

Additional Information Trivia References Book: Prince 1958-2016: Stories from the Purple Underground, Mobeen Azhar (2016) Press: First report on Supermoon recording session with NPJazz (Ontheone blogspot: 10 August 2014). Social Media: Hanging out with @Prince at #PaisleyPark mixing some new music from the live recording!!! by nikwestbass (tumblr: 10 August 2014). Andrew Gouché post (Facebook: 19 March 2025

2013 Joshuaworld

Unreleased Albums (Prince)

Unreleased Albums (Related Artists)

2014 Untitled 3rdEyeGirl album