Once upon a time, there was a forward-thinking piano prodigy who made his first album in his early twenties, a wide-ranging affair produced by Quincy Jones. Soon afterwards, he composed a stridently civil rights piece that prominently featured Eric Dolphy. And then this avanteer recorded one of the first electro-acoustic experimental music recordings at the house Albert Ayler built, ESP-Disk Records.
This diversely talented musician later rose to prominence as a sideman, producer, arranger, a much-sampled funk-jazz maestro and godfather of smooth jazz. Yes, Bob James is all of these things.
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