“When I went in to make my record,” Flea tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, “I’d have moments of wild overconfidence and moments of, ‘Oh my god, what if I’m not good enough with the trumpet?’” Flea’s fascination with the trumpet was never a secret. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ spark plug of a bassist played it, after all, on Jane’s Addiction’s 1988 debut, his flagship act’s own records, and even an EP by Beach Boy Al Jardine. Still, Honora, Flea’s debut as a bandleader, finds him recommitting to his first musical love in a surprising variety of ways: taking a bittersweet solo as Nick Cave sings “Wichita Lineman,” using it as a textural pillow beneath Thom Yorke on “Traffic Lights,” holding the chorus of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You” as if in a hug. After rehearsing trumpet in hotel rooms around the world on the last Chili Peppers tour, Flea recruited SML saxophonist and former Leon Bridges musical director Josh Johnson as a producer. He and Johnson assembled a marquee band of versatile improvisers—guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Deantoni Parks, bassist Anna Butterss, flautist Rickey Washington. Flea says he was intimidated they would see him as a dilettante and interloper, but he was delighted when they instead buoyed him, supporting him as he explored his interests. Together, they drift toward trip-hop fusion on “Frailed,” then find a hesitant sort of hope by reworking the gargantuan guitar solo of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain.” Honora ultimately feels like an act of friendship and love, of giving someone space to become something new. “Everyone just wants to be loved,” Flea offers during “A Plea,” the spoken-word soul-jazz wonder that starts Honora in earnest. “And everything besides love is cowardice.” Flea’s second act as a trumpet-playing bandleader feels rooted, then, in bravery.