For Maxwell, Serenading Is The Separation Of Person And Persona (And He Still Gets Nervous)

“I do not connect with the performer part,” Maxwell said matter-of-factly.

The beloved neo-soul crooner is quietly on tour, headlined the first night of ESSENCE Fest 2025, and has announced a series of intimate shows titled the Silent Serenade Ensemble in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn. He will take over the MGM National Harbor in D.C. for three consecutive nights — Sept. 18, 19, and 20 — which will be followed by a very special hometown show at the Kings Theatre on Sept. 28.

Each performance will differ from his previous tours as they will spotlight new arrangements of his classics and deep cuts, supported by live percussion and a string quartet. He described the upcoming series as an “evolutional journey into the many facets of Black music in America.”

However, Maxwell teased, “The ensemble part is the most exciting part. When you come to the show, you won’t know what the ensemble is, but you’ll be surprised at what it sounds like. The goal is to be like, ‘Whoa, why are these people with these instruments? And how is this going to sound with the music that I am known for?’ It allows me to sort of stretch and it allows people to kind of go, ‘Ah, this is an experience. Let’s just kick back and go with it.’ Hopefully they like where they’re going. That’s my job — to make sure that the ride is good.”

For someone like the forever heartthrob who’s aging like fine wine and still able to spark dating rumors with some of Hollywood’s (literal) finest, there’s a clear distinction, though, between who he is onstage and who he is when he’s not.

“The close friends that I’ve had for more than 35 years— they don’t really treat me like [‘Maxwell]. We’re kind of nerds,” he explained. “Even in the band, we care about the music. We care about what we’re going to present. We care about the audience. Make no mistake: the number one thought and priority is the audience and what we want to give them. My nerves come from a deep-seated desire to bring something, to be of service to the people, to bring them closer.”

On any given day, you can find him geeking out about SAULT, Kelela, Lucky Daye, and other artists who “who make music [and] allow it to breathe, to give it that fullness and richness that it deserves.” This is a skill he’s mastered over the past 30 years. Another one? The art of the serenade.

The 52-year-old defined serenading as “pouring out the most authentic part and the most vulnerable part of you, and expressing it to that special someone or that gathered group of special someones, and hopefully making them buckle into their vulnerability as well.”

He added, “My job with all those people in the room is to get them to let [their guards] down. So much of life teaches you to suppress emotion and teaches you to fear it and to not see it as a strength. Feelings are the way your spirit tells you where you are in the human experience. And if you don’t listen to them and if you’re afraid of them, then you won’t know how to move through the experience of life. People need to know that you believe where you’re going, so that they can go with you.”

Maxwell chose to host the Silent Serenade Ensemble in D.C. and Brooklyn because the latter is his home while the nation’s capital is his home away from home. However, those stops may just be the beginning.

“When people see this show, at least I hope that they walk away with a sense of ‘I think I want to see more.’ The goal is just to sprinkle the breadcrumbs out there and then hopefully [it’ll expand to other cities],” he explained.

For those who loved his Unplugged or Tiny Desk, the Silent Serenade Ensemble was created with you in mind and it’s something he’s passionate about bringing to the masses.

“I don’t even know what it’s going to be and this is exciting because it opens up a whole new layer of possibilities for me. This is the kind of thing that people who are really big music lovers and vibe lovers. For people who just want a thing that feels like it’s blossoming in front of them. It’s not like a manufactured cranked out conveyor belt. I think it is going to work for people who are really interested in seeing an experimental expression of music, particularly mine, in another sort of form and another sort of arrangement,” the crooner noted.

He will be joined by Yola and he chose her for how she “blended genres so effortlessly, from rock to blues, and then the voice, her femininity, her Blackness.” Maxwell said, “[That] was just so beautiful to me and she’s so unlimited.”

Tickets for the Silent Serenade Ensemble are available via the singer’s Musze website.