After nearly five decades redefining what a rock bassist can do, Flea steps into a different light with Honora, his first full-length solo album. It’s a record rooted not in slap bass bravado, but in something older and more personal. Jazz, and specifically the trumpet, the instrument that first sparked his imagination as a kid.

That early spark never really left. Growing up surrounded by impromptu living room sessions, Flea saw something in jazz that hit deeper than anything else at the time. “It was the greatest thing I ever saw,” he recalls. “The wildness, warmth and we of it. Straight Bebop. Boom. I knew there were higher things on this earth, way above the pettiness that had left me disheartened. The holy trifecta of my life, music, sports and nature was complete.”

Life, of course, had other plans. A teenage pivot to bass at the urging of Fairfax High classmate Hillel Slovak led to the formation of Red Hot Chili Peppers and a career that would reshape modern rock. But the idea of making a jazz-leaning, groove-driven instrumental record lingered in the background for decades. It wasn’t until he approached sixty that Flea decided to stop circling the idea and commit to it fully, practicing trumpet daily for two years, even while juggling stadium tours, family life, and everything else that comes with his orbit.

Honora is the result of that discipline, and it plays like a conversation between past and present. Flea composed and arranged the material, handling both trumpet and bass, while surrounding himself with a forward-thinking ensemble that includes producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks. The album also pulls in voices from outside the jazz world, with Thom Yorke and Nick Cave contributing vocals, and additional textures from players like Mauro Refosco and Nate Walcott.

One of the album’s centerpieces, “Traffic Lights,” captures that cross-pollination. Built from a groove Flea and Parks locked into early on, the track evolved after being passed to Yorke, whose melodic and lyrical instincts helped shape its final form. “Deantoni and I played what became ‘Traffic Lights’ the first day," Flea says. "Something about it reminded me of Atoms for Peace [the supergroup featuring Flea and Thom Yorke], so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did. With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the ‘upside down’ and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherfucker.”

For someone who has spent most of his life onstage, the vulnerability of Honora comes from stepping into unfamiliar territory. Flea admits he wasn’t sure how the musicians around him would receive what he brought to the table. “It turns out they were all the most genuinely supportive people, moving me deeply and daily with their generous spirits ... Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs. I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down.”