Bob James chats with Jeffrey Siegel on the award-winning podcast “Straight No Chaser” to talk about touring again, the new album FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE!, and fOURPLAY.
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Jazz Across the Pond Interview
Bob James sits down with Jazz Across the Pond with hosts Roger “The Jazz Cat” Lee & Kevin “Mr. G” Goolsby.
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FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE! Now Available
Bob James’ new album, “Feel Like Making LIVE!”, is now available in five different formats!
Audio
Ultra Blu-ray (Feb 25 Release)
- 180gram Orange Coloured Double Vinyl LP (Limited Number): 1,000 pcs orange coloured numbered vinyl, in addition to the regular black colour.
- SACD: Includes DSD stereo and 5.1 surround sound for the ultimate sound quality experience.
- MQA-CD: Utilizing award-winning technology that delivers the sound of the studio, the MQA-CD plays on all CD players, to reveal the original master quality.
- MQA-CD + blu-ray: The live-in-the-studio recording was recorded in high-resolution audio and is beautifully packaged in a deluxe digi-folder with a 36-page booklet. The blu-ray also includes Dolby Atmos immersive sound, bonus tracks and in-depth interviews.
- Ultra HD Blu-ray: The live in-the-studio recording was stylishly filmed in 4K and recorded in high-resolution audio, which includes immersive sound with Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD and Auro 3D. Bonus tracks and in-depth interviews are also included.
Bob James, Talib Kweli & Slick Rick @ Blue Note NYC
Here are a few moments from an iconic evening with hip hop royalty at the Blue Note NYC from January 24, 2022!
The evening was a musical history lesson, bringing hip hop greats Talib Kweli and Slick Rick together with jazz legend Bob James.
While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop. Two of James’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s One and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s Two – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. To illustrate, the title track from his 1981 album Sign of the Times was sampled in De La Soul‘s “Keepin’ the Faith”, and Warren G‘s “Regulate”.
“Angela” was sampled in the track “Cab Fare” by Souls of Mischief. The track “El Verano” from the 1977 album “BJ4” is used as a sample in the song “Blown Away” by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the Masta Ace Track “NY Confidential”. N.W.A‘s “Alwayz into Somethin’” 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. In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album Still Standing.
It was an awesome show performing with Talib Kweli & Slick Rick at Blue Note NYC!
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Review: Bob James Trio at Dakota Jazz Club
Last night, the Bob James Trio played the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, almost a half century after the ensemble won the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival. The ensemble leader, jazz keyboardist Bob James, proved more than a one-hit wonder. Having attracted the attention of one of the judges, the great jazz arranger Quincy Jones, James was soon introduced to jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, and became her pianist.
Vaughan was not only one of the greatest jazz singers of the age, but also an accomplished pianist, who was more than willing to teach her new accompanist what was needed to be a good sideman. As James noted, “There was something about being an accompanist, being a supporting pianist for a lead singer or a lead instrumentalist that made me comfortable. I felt that I was good at it and in many ways I like it better being the supporting person than I did just being stuck out there in front of my own trio.”
Continue reading at TwinCitiesArts.com…
FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE! & the UK Vibe
‘Feel Like Making LIVE!’ is the new album release from the revered pianist and composer, Bob James.
Released through evosound, Bob James gifts listeners with a blissful revisiting of some of his most cherished recordings recorded live as part of the Bob James Trio. Formed alongside drummer Billy Kilson and bassist Michael Palazzolo, the trio continues their revisiting of Bob James classics as initially established through their 2018 release, ‘Espresso’. Again released through evosound, James and company delved deep into past releases from the frankly iconic catalogue of James delivering some wonderful reimaginings of ‘Mister Magic’, ‘Submarine’ and ‘Promenade’.
Continue reading at UKVibe.org…
FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE! with Soul, Jazz & Funk
Keyboard maestro Bob James has enjoyed a long and successful career. Can you believe that he debuted in 1963 as the “Bob James Trio” with an album called ‘Bold Conceptions’? Now aged 80, you’d understand if James wanted to hang up his metaphorical boots! But no! He famously once said that “music is more than fun – it’s life’, so, with that attitude he’s not going to give up anytime soon. Accordingly, in October 2018 and hot on the heels of his last album, ‘Espresso’, James booked himself into Arlington’s Sage Arts studio to do what he likes doing best – playing live. With the sidemen he used on ‘Espresso’ – veteran sticks man, Billy Kilson and bassist Michael Palazzolo – he soared through 13 tunes – all beautifully captured “live” by engineer Tom Hall.
Continue reading at SoulandJazzandFunk.com…
FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE! in Hi Res
Multi-Grammy Winning Pianist Bob James releases “Feel Like Making LIVE!” as a celebration of his unique artistry, reflecting on a storied career stretching back nearly six decades. On this album he Steps back to his piano trio roots, which is how the Missouri-born musician started his music career back in 1963. The lineup on this release includes bassist Michael Palazzolo along with drummer Billy Kilson and the album was recorded live in the studio as a unique audio-visual spectacular, utilizing the best available filming and recording standards, including Dolby Atmos sound and 4K ultra high definition video.
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FEEL LIKE MAKING LIVE! is All About Jazz
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, made a name for James. So, a short history of a sixty year career: his first album, Bold Conceptions (Mercury Records) released in 1963, fifty or so more albums followed, a dozen with his group Fourplay; his contribution to hip hop via sampling of his recordings, and finally coming around now to a trio offering—a mode of making music he calls …”a perfect way that I can express myself”—with Feel Like making Live!, an audio/visual experience that includes, along with the CD, a Blue Ray disc of James and his trio performing in the studio.
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Up for the Challenge: A Conversation with Bob James (Part One)
Across his almost six-decade career, Bob James’ music has meant many things to different people. To those who have an interest in Creed Taylor’s iconic CTI Records, the memorable label that incentivized artists to merge jazz with ideas from other genres, James is a familiar name. Between his own significant releases and his contributions to albums by artists including Grover Washington Jr., Stanley Turrentine, and Hubert Laws, he was core member of what James refers to as the CTI repertory. To those who love “smooth jazz”, James is one of the founders. In a list of the ten greatest albums of the style, his name appears on nearly half. To hip hop heads, James is royalty; one of the most sampled artists of all time, certainly the most sampled from the jazz lineage. In the pop sphere, some may know him for his work with Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, or Kenny Loggins. He’s reimagined classical pieces several times. And, underneath it all, a somewhat quiet undercurrent of avant-garde experimentalism.
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