Home » Jazz Articles » Bob James
Jazz Articles about Bob James
Eric Gale: Forecast
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Eric Gale (born on September 20, 1938, of Barbadian parents, in Brooklyn, NY) recorded over 500 albums as sideman, backing such stars as Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Dianna Ross, Paul Simon, Lena Horne, Michel Legrand, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, Milton Nascimento, Billy Joel, Gato Barbieri and Mongo Santamaria, to name a few. Gale's association with Creed Taylor began when the celebrated producer was working at Verve Records. ...
Continue ReadingCTI Acid Jazz Grooves by Various Artists
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
The CD you are holding in your hands is a very special compilation. It's the celebration of CTI as one of the most “sampled" labels on Earth! For the past ten years, many CTI tracks have been cut up, sampled, scratched and looped to create new songs for a new audience. Many of the selections on this album (all of them produced by Creed Taylor and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder) represented the basic inspiration and major influence in the ...
Continue ReadingBob James: Jazz Hands
by Dan McClenaghan
Let us groove into a H.G. Wells mode and ride a time machine back to 1979 and revisit One On One (Tappan Zee), pianist Bob James' collaboration with guitarist Earl Klugh. The disc won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. It was a polished production, full of catchy rhythms and bright, memorable melodies--music that was as widely engaging as it could be. Now turn that time machine's dial to fast forward and revisit 1990's Grand Piano Canyon (Warner ...
Continue ReadingDouble Vision Revisited at SFJAZZ
by Walter Atkins
Bob James, David Sanborn and Marcus Miller SFJAZZ, Miner Auditorium Double Vision Revisited Tour San Francisco, CA January 14, 2022 SFJAZZ celebrated the 35th anniversary release of the seminal album Double Vision (Warner Brothers 1986), by Bob James, David Sanborn and Marcus Miller. The group performed the popular 1987 Grammy-winning album with a few pleasant surprises for a receptive audience in the comfortable Miner Auditorium. In keeping with the times, SFJAZZ installed a new ...
Continue ReadingBob James Trio: Feel Like Making Live!
by Dan McClenaghan
Bob James--keyboardist, pianist, composer and arranger--opens Feel Like Making Live! with his original tune, “Angela (Theme From 'Taxi')." Everyone has heard it--that is what exposure from a popular television show can do. That series ran from 1978 to 1983. Taxi music, along with his albums on Creed Taylor's CTI Records during this time, in addition to his taking on arranging chores for the label, for the likes of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. and more, ...
Continue ReadingBob James: Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions
by Dan McClenaghan
Most people have heard the music of Bob James. He wrote “Angela," the theme song for the popular television comedy Taxi. The show ran from 1978 to 1983, and reruns are ongoing. The Bob James became one of the fathers and most successful purveyors of the smooth/fusion jazz sound, in recordings under his own name, with the group Foreplay and in teamings with saxophonist David Sanborn. Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions takes ...
Continue Reading
