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.”
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