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Bob James | |
|---|---|
 James inHeydar Aliyev Palace,Baku Jazz Festival, 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Robert McElhiney James (1939-12-25)December 25, 1939 (age 86) Marshall, Missouri, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument |
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| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels |
|
| Member of | Fourplay |
| Website | Official website |
Robert McElhiney James (born December 25, 1939)[1] is an Americanjazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the bandFourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV showTaxi.[2] According toVICE, music from his first seven albums has often beensampled and believed to have contributed to the formation ofhip hop.[3][4] Among his most well known recordings are "Nautilus", "Westchester Lady", "Tappan Zee", and his version of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".
James was born on Christmas Day of 1939 inMarshall, Missouri, United States.[1] He started playing the piano at age four.[1] His first piano teacher, Sister Mary Elizabeth, who taught at Mercy Academy, discovered that he hadperfect pitch. At age seven, James began to study with R. T. Dufford, a teacher atMissouri Valley College. At age 15, James continued his studies with Franklin Launer, a teacher at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, with more music instruction during high school from Harold Lickey, conductor of the Marshall High School Band and Orchestra. Apart from the piano, James learned to play trumpet,timpani, and percussion. From 1950 to 1956, he competed in the Missouri State Fair piano competitions and received several blue ribbons.
James attended theUniversity of Michigan,[1] but during his second year transferred toBerklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. At Berklee his roommate was saxophonistNick Brignola.
His first professional music job was when he was eight years old, playing for atap dance class at Mercy Academy. During his adolescence, James's music career proliferated. Early jobs included being a member of the Earle Parsons Dance Band (c. 1952–55) which played various engagements around the Marshall area. During this time, he penned his first dance band arrangement.
During the summer of 1955, atLake of the Ozarks in Missouri, James played for dancing and occasional jam sessions with the Bob Falkenhainer Quartet on the Governor McClurg Excursion Boat in the evenings. He recalls that "during the day we had free time and I became a proficient water skier that summer!" At age 16, a solo engagement followed in the summer when James traveled with good friend Ben Swinger to Colorado and ended up with a job in the piano bar at the Steads Ranch resort in Estes Park.
While in college at Michigan, James playedfree jazz with musicians in Ann Arbor and Detroit. In 1962, his band entered theNotre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, where the judges includedHenry Mancini andQuincy Jones. The trio entered the competition not expecting to win but wanting to provide some avant-garde music in a contest field that was primarily straight ahead music.[5] To the trio's surprise, they won the competition. Not long after, Jones signed James to an album deal withMercury Records. Mercury released James's first album,Bold Conceptions (1963), a somewhatfree jazz exploration that was produced by Quincy Jones and that differed from the smooth jazz for which he would later become known.[6][7][3]
In New York City, James worked as anarranger and was hired as piano accompanist for jazz singerSarah Vaughan.[1] He reunited with Quincy Jones when Jones asked him to do some arranging for studio sessions.[1]Creed Taylor, producer and founder ofCTI Records, was at the sessions and hired James to work for CTI as a producer, arranger, andstudio musician.[1] In the 1970s, James worked on albums byGabor Szabo,Milt Jackson,Stanley Turrentine,Grover Washington, Jr. (notably onMister Magic), andMaynard Ferguson.[6]
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Creed Taylor invited James to record a solo album. The result,One (CTI, 1974), contained the song "Feel Like Making Love", with whichRoberta Flack had already had a hit. James had been hired to play piano for the song on Roberta Flack's album two weeks before recording a version of his own, using the same band. Radio stations played both and contributed to the commercial success ofOne.[6] The album was notable for adapting classical music to a modern-day scene, e.g. "In The Garden" was based on Pachelbel'sCanon in D and "Night on Bald Mountain" was a cover ofModest Mussorgsky's composition of the same name.
After three solo albums, James founded his own record label, Tappan Zee. Immediately thereafter, he cut adisco version of theTheme toStar Trek: The Motion Picture, a 45 of which was included with the soundtrack LP, and recorded the albumTouchdown (Tappan Zee, 1978).[8] Among the songs on the album was "Angela", the theme song for the TV showTaxi. James provided all the music forTaxi and collected some of its music, including "Angela", onThe Genie: Themes & Variations from the TV Series Taxi (1983).[9] When he toured in 1979, he was supported by a marketing campaign that included posters of him at the wheel of a New York yellow cab. The performances were documented on the albumAll Around the Town (Tappan Zee, 1980), with a cover of James at the wheel of a taxi.
James turned from smooth jazz to classical music to recordRameau (1984), his interpretations of Baroque-period composerJean-Philippe Rameau.[10] In later albums, he interpreted the work of two more Baroque composers,J. S. Bach andDomenico Scarlatti.
A year afterRameau, he moved toWarner Bros. Records and collaborated withDavid Sanborn onDouble Vision (Warner Bros., 1986); the album won aGrammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.[11] He would record albums for Warner Bros. (which also reissued Bob James' CTI and Tappan Zee/Columbia back catalog in the mid-1990s) for the next seventeen years. His collaboration withEarl Klugh,One on One, won aGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1980 and has sold over one million copies. Another collaboration with Klugh,Cool, (Warner Bros., 1992) was nominated for a Grammy, as wasJoined at the Hip (Warner Bros., 1996) withKirk Whalum. He also recordedFlesh and Bone in 1995 with his daughter, Hillary James, and another solo album,Joy Ride (Warner Bros., 1999).Joined at the Hip was reissued with a 2019 Remaster on evosound.
James was looking for a bass player while recording the albumGrand Piano Canyon (Warner Bros., 1990) with drummerHarvey Mason and guitaristLee Ritenour. Mason and Ritenour suggestedNathan East. After working with them for a while, James suggested they form a band, which resulted in the contemporary jazz quartetFourplay. The band has recorded over ten albums and has seen a couple of personnel changes, with guitaristLarry Carlton replacing Ritenour and thenChuck Loeb replacing Carlton.[6] Fourplay celebrated its 25th anniversary with the albumSilver (Heads Up, 2015).[12]
James's music, especially his early albums, has beensampled often, with his songs "Nautilus" and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" leading the field.[8][13]
"Nautilus" was sampled byEric B. & Rakim in "Let the Rhythm Hit 'em",Run-D.M.C.'s "Beats to the Rhyme",Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500",[14]DJ Jazzy Jeff's "Jazzie's Groove",Jeru the Damaja's "My Mind Spray",Freddie Gibbs's "Extradite", and "Farandole (L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2)". It appears on theFuncrusher Plus LP fromCompany Flow andNangdo's "Nikes". The bassline from "Nautilus" appears in "Children's Story" bySlick Rick.
"Take Me to the Mardi Gras" incorporates in its first four measures a bell-and-drum pattern that is one of hip hop's basicbreak beats. It has been sampled byCrash Crew's "Breaking Bells (Take Me to the Mardi Gras)", Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper", theBeastie Boys' "Hold it Now, Hit it",Missy Elliott's "Work It",will.i.am's "I Got it from My Mama", "This Is Me (Urban Remix)" byDream, "I Want You" byCommon, and "Take It Back" byWu-Tang Clan.
"Westchester Lady" was sampled byDJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in "Here We Go Again", as well as by DJ T-Rock and Squashy Nice in their song "Evolution".
James's 1981 song "Sign of the Times" was sampled byDe La Soul in their 1991 single "Keepin' the Faith" from the albumDe La Soul is Dead andWarren G andNate Dogg in their 1994 single "Regulate".
His 1980 song "Snowbird Fantasy" was sampled by French house musician andLe Knight Club memberEric Chedeville, also Known as "Rico the Wizard", in his 2009 single "Spell of Love", which was remixed later byDJ Sneak.
The track "Tappan Zee", named after thebridge over a wide section of the Hudson River that James regularly crossed on his way to the studio,[15] was sampled in Arrested Development's "People Everyday (Metamorphis Remix)".
Digable Planets song Jettin contains a sample from "Blue Lick" by Bob James.
In the past, James has stated that he had "a lot of respect" for the creative process of hip hop production, only being unhappy when his music was plagiarized or illegally sampled.[16] James has begun to sample his own music, as shown on the composition "Submarine".[17] He has also been collaborating in recent years withDJ Jazzy Jeff,Ghostface Killah,9th Wonder, andSlick Rick.[18]
The discography of Bob James includes 53 albums.
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 200 [22] | US Top Sales [23] | US Jazz [24] | US Con. Jazz [25] | US R&B /HH [26] | US Trad Jazz [27] | US Top Cur [28] | US Ind [29] | US Indie Store [30] | US Vinyl [31] | |||
| 1962 | Bold Conceptions | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Mercury |
| 1965 | Explosions | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ESP Disk |
| 1974 | One | 85 | — | — | — | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | CTI |
| 1975 | Two | 75 | — | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1976 | Three | 49 | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1977 | BJ4 | 38 | — | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Heads | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tappan Zee/Columbia | |
| 1978 | Touchdown | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1979 | Lucky Seven | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| One on One (Bob James withEarl Klugh) | 23 | — | — | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980 | H | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | Sign of the Times | 56 | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | Hands Down | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Two of a Kind (Bob James with Earl Klugh) | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | Capitol | |
| 1983 | The Genie: Themes & Variations from the TV Series "Taxi" – ("Angela") | 77 | — | — | — | 43 | 47 | — | — | — | — | Tappan Zee/Columbia |
| Foxie | 106 | — | — | — | 45 | 3 | 108 | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | Rameau | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | CBS Masterworks |
| 12 | 136 | — | — | — | 67 | 5 | 136 | — | — | — | Tappan Zee/Columbia | |
| The Swan | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tappan Zee/CBS/Sony [JPN] | |
| 1986 | Double Vision (Bob James withDavid Sanborn) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Warner Bros. |
| Obsession | 142 | — | — | 8 | 49 | 3 | 142 | — | — | — | ||
| 1988 | The Scarlatti Dialogues | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | CBS Masterworks |
| Ivory Coast | 196 | — | — | 4 | 99 | — | 196 | — | — | — | Warner Bros. | |
| 1989 | Concertos for Two & Three Keyboards (Bob James withGüher Pekinel) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | CBS Masterworks |
| 1990 | Grand Piano Canyon | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Warner Bros. |
| 1992 | Cool (Bob James with Earl Klugh) | 170 | 170 | — | 1 | 88 | — | 170 | — | — | — | |
| 1994 | Restless | 168 | 168 | 4 | 4 | — | — | 168 | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | Flesh and Blood (Bob James with Hilary James) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1996 | Straight Up –(Bob James Trio) | — | — | 20 | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | |
| Joined at the Hip (Bob James withKirk Whalum) | — | — | 11 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997 | Playin' Hooky | — | — | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | Joy Ride | — | — | 10 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2001 | Dancing on the Water | — | — | 22 | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | Morning, Noon & Night | — | — | 14 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2004 | Portrait of Bill Evans – [2 tracks] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | JVC |
| Take It from the Top –(Bob James Trio) | — | — | 46 | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | Koch | |
| 2006 | Urban Flamingo | — | — | 18 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2007 | Angels of Shanghai (Bob James with Jack Lee) | — | — | 24 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Ataraxis (Bob James with Deeyah) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | Christmas Eyes (Bob James with Hilary James) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2009 | Botero (Bob James with Jack Lee) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | VideoArts [JPN] |
| 2011 | Just Friends (Bob James withHoward Paul) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | BJHP Music |
| Altair & Vega (Bob James withKeiko Matsui) | — | — | 17 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | eOne Music | |
| 2013 | Quartette Humaine (Bob James with David Sanborn) | — | — | 5 | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | OKeh/Sony Masterworks |
| Alone: Kaleidoscope by Solo Piano | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Red River | |
| 2015 | The New Cool (Bob James withNathan East) | — | — | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Yamaha |
| Live at Milliken Auditorium | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tappan Zee | |
| 2017 | In the Chapel In the Moonlight (Bob James with Nancy Stagnitta) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | Espresso –(Bob James Trio) | — | — | 2 | — | — | 2 | — | 46 | — | — | Evosound |
| 2020 | Once Upon a Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions | — | — | 8 | — | — | 6 | 71 | — | — | — | Resonance |
| On Vacation (Bob James withTill Brönner) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sony Masterworks | |
| Stonebone (J &K withGeorge Benson,Herbie Hancock, Bob James,Ron Carter,Grady Tate andRoss Tompkins) | — | 37 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 31 | — | 11 | 15 | A&M/CTI | |
| 2022 | Feel Like Making Live! (Bob James withBilly Kilson and Michael Palazzolo) –(i.e. Bob James Trio) | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Evosound |
| 2023 | Jazz Hands | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2025 | Just Us (Bob James andDave Koz) | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Just Koz |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||||||||||
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| US 200 [32] | |||
| 1981 | All Around the Town – (live double-album) | 66 | Tappan Zee/Columbia |
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Anthology | Castle |
| 2001 | Restoration | Warner Bros. |
| 2002 | The Essential Jazz Collection | Metro Doubles |
| 2003 | Bob James in Hi Fi | Audio Fidelity |
| 2009 | The Very Best of Bob James | Salvo |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot 100 [33] | Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs [34] | R&B/ Hip-Hop Airplay [35] | Smooth Jazz Airplay [36] | Adult R&B Airplay [37] | |||
| 1974 | "Night on Bald Mountain" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | One |
| "In the Garden" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | ||
| "Feel Like Making Love" | 88 | — | — | N/a | N/a | ||
| 1975 | "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" | 105 | — | — | N/a | N/a | Two |
| 1976 | "Westchester Lady" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Three |
| 1977 | "Where the Wind Blows Free" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | BJ4 |
| "Heads" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Heads | |
| 1978 | "Night Crawler" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | |
| "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" –(Japan-only release) | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Two | |
| 1979 | "Theme fromTaxi (Angela)" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Touchdown |
| "Touchdown" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | ||
| "Friends" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Lucky Seven | |
| "Kari" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | One on One | |
| "Main Theme fromStar Trek – The Motion Picture" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Non-album single | |
| 1980 | "Snowbird Fantasy" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | H |
| "Sparkling New York" –(Japan-only release) | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | H –(Japanese edition) | |
| 1981 | "Sign of the Times" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Sign of the Times |
| "The Steamin' Feelin' " | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | ||
| 1982 | "Spunky" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Hands Down |
| "Whiplash" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Two of a Kind | |
| "Shepherds Song (fromHaute-Auvergne) –(UK-only release) | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Reflections –(Various Artists) | |
| 1983 | "Marco Polo" –(Japan-only release) | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Foxie |
| 1984 | "Courtship" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | 12 |
| 1986 | "Maputo" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Double Vision |
| 1987 | "Rousseau" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Obsession |
| "3 A.M." | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | ||
| 1988 | "Ashanti" | — | — | — | N/a | N/a | Ivory Coast |
| 1998 | "Do It Again" (Bob James featuring Rasheeda Azar) | — | — | — | N/a | 35 | Playin' Hooky |
| "I'm Only Human" (Luther Vandross featuringCassandra Wilson and Bob James) | — | 57 | 42 | N/a | 10 | Luther Vandross –I Know | |
| 2012 | "Backstage Pass" (Paul Brown featuring Bob James) | — | — | — | 1 | — | Paul Brown –The Funky Joint |
| 2013 | "Deep in the Weeds" (Bob James andDavid Sanborn) | — | — | — | 1 | — | Quartette Humaine |
| 2015 | "Sign of the Times" (CeeLo and Bob James) | — | — | — | — | 17 | CeeLo –Heart Blanche |
| 2018 | "Submarine" | — | — | — | 4 | — | Espresso |
| 2019 | "Topside" (Bob James Trio) | — | — | — | 1 | — | |
| 2020 | "Nautilus" (remix) / "Submarine" (remix) | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| 2021 | "Hope for Tomorrow" (Tom Braxton featuring Bob James) | — | — | — | 15 | — | Tom Braxton –Lookin' Up |
| "Hispanica" (Christian de Mesones featuring Bob James) | — | — | — | 1 | — | Christian de Mesones –They Call Me Big New York | |
| 2023 | "The Secret Drawer" | — | — | — | 4 | — | Jazz Hands |
| 2025 | "New Hope" (Bob James andDave Koz) | — | — | — | 17 | — | Just Us |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | |||||||
WithPatti Austin
WithChet Baker
WithGeorge Benson
WithRon Carter
WithHank Crawford
WithMaynard Ferguson
WithMichael Franks
WithEric Gale
WithJeff Golub and Avenue Blue
WithQuincy Jones
WithHubert Laws
WithHarvey Mason
WithRalph MacDonald
WithIdris Muhammad
WithDoc Powell
WithLee Ritenour
WithGabor Szabo
WithKirk Whalum
WithJohn Zorn
| With others
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |