BOB JAMES

Schedule

Wed Nov 10 2021 at 08:30 pm

Location

130 North Tryon Street Charlotte NC 28202 | Charlotte, NC

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BOB JAMES [http://bobjames.com/]
Jazz / Funk / Fusion
The career of BobJames is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn.
From his firstdays in Marshall, Missouri, the music of Bob James has captivated
audiencesthroughout the world.

Discovered by QuincyJones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, James
recorded his first soloalbum, Bold Conceptions, that year for Mercury Records.
58 albums andinnumerable awards would follow through five decades. He honed his
skillsworking with Creed Taylor, working on albums for artists like Hank
Crawford,Grover Washington, Jr, among others. While with CTI, James found great
popular success overseeing significanthits for Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Maynard
Ferguson, and Kenny Loggins.

In 1974, Jamesfinally recorded his own album, One, which launched a lifelong
career ofrecording and performing live. After three more albums, James began his
ownlabel, Tappan Zee Records. This allowedJames to spend more time in the
studio, focusing on his own creativeworks. It was during this time that
herecorded his own gold seller, Touchdown, which included his
composition,“Angela”, the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, and possibly
James’ bestknow work. Bob composed all the originalmusic used in that television
series for its entire run. One On One, the firstin three collaborations with
Earl Klugh, was awarded a Grammy in 1980 for BestPop Instrumental Performance,
and has sold over a million copies. During thistime, James set the standard for
the smooth jazz sound in the late 1970s.

A different aspect ofthe musical talent of Bob James was demonstrated on his
three classical albumsrecorded for the CBS Masterworks division, the first of
which was Rameaureleased in 1984, and followed by The Scarlatti Dialogues & Bach
keyboardconcertos with the Pekinel Sisters.

In 1985 James movedto Warner Bros Records, and kicked things off with Double
Vision, acollaboration with David Sanborn, and produced by Tommy LiPuma. Double
Vision was another Grammy winner,selling over a million albums.

While recording hisalbum, Grand Piano Canyon, in 1990, James reunited with
longtime friend,drummer Harvey Mason, Jr. It would alsobe the first time James
would work with guitarist Lee Ritenour, and bassistNathan East. This would be
the start ofsomething beautiful, as these early sessions ignited a spark which
would engulfthe Jazz world as Fourplay. Fourplay’sfirst album was recorded and
released in 1991. The Group would collaborate on a total of three albums, until
1998 whenRitenour left the group, and Larry Carlton took over. This version of
Fourplay continued thegroup’s huge success for seven more albums. After 12
years, Carlton decided to delve further into his solo career,and the band
brought in guitarist Chuck Loeb in 2010.

A personal andprofessional highlight was the collaboration with his daughter,
Hilary, ontheir Flesh & Blood album, which toured 15 U.S. cities. James
continued collaborating on separateprojects with Earl Klugh, (Cool) and Kirk
Whalum (Joined At the Hip). Bothalbums were nominated for Grammys. His solo
career continued throughout the90’s, culminating with Joy Ride in 1999,and
another Grammy nomination.

In 2001, Dancing Onthe Water, was released, once again showcasing James’
creativeversatility. The album includesperformances with Keiko Matsui, Joe
Sample, Dave Holland, and Chuck Loeb. Fourplay released Heartfelt in 2002,
andspent much of the year touring across the globe. That same year, James
released Morning, Noon,& Night, whose title track went to #1 in Contemporary
Jazz Radio.

While appearing atNew York’s Blue Note, in February of 2003, James went into the
Hit Factory withBilly Kilson, James Genus, and Ken Freeman on the board. The
result was Take It From the Top, atribute to pianists who inspired James; Ahmad
Jamal, Duke Ellington, BillEvans, and Oscar Peterson, among others.

The very next yearJames was at it again, with Fourplay releasing Journey in
2004. Fourplay toured most of the year, culminatingwith a trip to South Africa
in November of 2005 and a final tour stop inBangkok, Thailand in December.
Thisevent featured the world premiere live performance of James’ ‘The Angels of
Shanghai.’ This project encompased several months in theFar East collaborating
with students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music,who played ancient Chinese
instruments, as well as James Genus, Nathan East,and Harvey Mason. This project
finallytoured the U.S. in 2007, and culminated with a performance later in the
year atthe prestigious Seongnam Art Center in Seoul, Korea, where James was
alsoinvited to have a solo exhibit of his art in conjunction with the
performance.

James stayed busy in2006, releasing Urban Flamingo in February, and on April 7,
was awarded theGeorge Benson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Smooth
Jazz Awards.Summer saw the release of Fourplay’s tenth record, appropriately
called X. This tour literally took James around theworld again with stops in
Spain, London, California, Hong Kong, Japan, KualaLumpur, and Indonesia.

In 2008, Jamesreleased a Christmas album with Hilary James, and another Fourplay
albumEnergy. Energy featured Grammy winnerEsperanza Spalding, and another Grammy
nomination with the first single,“Fortune Teller”. The year ended on ahigh note
with James and close friend, the Tony award winning Broadway directorJack
O’Brien, receiving the International Achievement Award by the state ofMichigan.

Bob has maintained acommitment to sophisticated production and arrangements,
while stretching outin different and new directions. Thisculminated with another
busy year in 2009 with the release of The Very Best ofBob James. Not stopping
there, James also released Botero, a collaboration withJack Lee, composed music
for the Broadway play ‘Impressionism’, and recordedAcross the Groove, a
collaboration with Japanese sax player Masato Honda, allin the same year. This
again led Jamestouring across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

2010 saw the twelfthFourplay album released, Let’s Touch the Sky, which led to
another world tour,culminating with an unforgettable collaboration with the New
Japan Philharmonicin Tokyo in December. This premiered neworchestral pieces
arranged specifically for this concert, and was Fourplay’sfirst performance with
a symphony orchestra. Fourplay was voted Best Group of the Year at the American
Smooth JazzAwards to wrap up a busy 2010.

2011 broughtdevastating natural disasters to Japan, and James, with a close
relationship tothe region wanted to contribute to the relief efforts. This led
to the Jazz forJapan benefit album, and the Iwate benefit concert, headlined by
James.

Then, in September2011, Altair & Vega, the Four-Hand piano duet collaboration
with KeikoMatsui, was released. This uniquecollaboration which took nearly 10
years, resulted in several memorable livetour performances, before being
completed as a recorded album, along with alive performance DVD recorded at the
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. Later that same year, James released
acollaboration with Savannah guitarist Howard Paul with Just Friends:
TheHamilton Hall Sessions. All this, whilestill touring with Fourplay, including
headlining the Playboy Jazz Festival atthe Hollywood Bowl, and receiving the
Oasis Contemporary jazz award for ‘Groupof the Year’. James was also honored
inhis hometown of Marshall, MO, with the inaugural ‘Bob James Jazz Festival’.

Fourplay joinedforces again the following year with the release of Esprit de
Four. The album hit the charts, producing severalsuccessful tracks, including
the powerful “Put Our Hearts Together”, whichfeatured vocals by Seiko Matsuda.
Thesong was a tribute to the regions of Japan devastated by the natural
disastersjust months earlier, and spawned several benefit concerts, such as the
IwateJazz Festival, and a full length documentary of James’ visit to the region.

In 2013 QuartetteHumaine was released. This was the firstcreative collaboration
between keyboardist-composer Bob James and altosaxophonist David Sanborn since
their million-selling, Grammy-winning album,Double Vision, twenty-five years
ago.

2015 brought therelease of James’ first live album, Live at the Milliken
Auditorium, which wascaptured on a magical night in his home town of Traverse
City, Michigan. This same year also brought the first releasefrom James and long
time collaborator Nathan East, The New Cool, a masterfulwork of art which truly
redefines the essence of cool. Still not finished, James and Fourplay
cametogether for the release of the group’s 25th anniversary, with Silver,
whichwas recorded old school at Sunset Sound Studios, where the group recorded
theirfirst album 25 years earlier.

While James isrecognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has
also had aprofound effect on the history of hip hop, having been sampled often.
Two ofJames’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s One and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras”
from1975’s Two – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. According
towhosampled.com, “Nautilus” and “Take Me to Mardi Gras” have been sampled
inthirty-two and forty-three hip-hop recordings, respectively. The title track
from his 1981 album Sign ofthe Times was sampled in De La Soul‘s “Keepin’ the
Faith”, and Warren G‘s“Regulate”. His “Angela” was sampled inthe track “Cab
Fare” by Souls of Mischief. The track “El Verano” from the 1977 album “BJ4” is
used as a sample inthe song “Blown Away” by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the
Masta Ace Track “NYConfidential”. N.W.A‘s “Alwayz intoSomethin'” uses a sample
of “Storm King” from the album Three. “Can’t Wait” by Redman features a sample
of“Caribbean Nights” from the album Touchdown. English Drum & Bass pioneer Adam
F extensively sampled “WestchesterLady” on his 1995 breakthrough release
Circles. Röyksopp sampled his version of “You’re as Right as Rain” for
theirinstrumental track “Eple.” In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by
André3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album Still Standing.
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Where is it happening?

130 North Tryon Street Charlotte NC 28202, Charlotte, United States

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Blumenthal Performing Arts

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