Fourplay burns it up with Firefly!
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Fourplay & Friends @ Blue Note Tokyo
Bob and Fourplay had the privilege to bring in the New Year for 2012 with our friends at the Blue Note Tokyo. It was a tremendous experience, and left us with some wonderful memories of the friends we make every time we visit Japan. Below are some photos from behind the scenes…
Usher Visits Fourplay in the Studio
Bob and Fourplay are in the studio working on the new album, and had a special visit from Usher. He stopped through recently to see how things were going, and to hang out with the guys for a bit…
Bob James Chats Up Duck Radio
Bob James sits down with Duck Radio to discuss upcoming shows, musical collaborations, his impact on the history of Hip Hop, his personal ties to Japan and the relief effort, and the ever changing music industry…
Listen Below!!!
Bob James Interview 2-1-2012 (Part 1)
Bob James Interview 2-1-2012 (Part 2)
Bob James Interview 2-1-2012 (Part 3)
Bob James Ticket Giveaway @ Yoshi’s in Oakland!
Fourplay’s European Tour, 2011
Three, Two, One… A Final Say with Bob James
“I’m flattered to be a part of hip-hop’s history,” says Bob James nonchalantly. “But I believe we’re still at the beginning of understanding how young people make music.”
Bob James’s career developed during a time when radio ruled, records sold, and Roberta Flack had the country’s number one song. Things were different then. Popular music was changing, and over in New York, kids were priming themselves for a burgeoning hip-hop scene. James was thirty-five by 1974 and had just released his first solo album on CTI Records. His subsequent projects for the label were both commercially successful LPs and unsung flops. Regardless of units sold, it was those very records that would lay the foundational sound for some of hip-hop’s most coveted records. It was those kids in New York who initially took James’s music and adapted it for themselves to use and the world to see.
James’s first three CTI releases—One, Two, and Three—are amongst the most sampled records ever. And if we’re truly beginning to grasp how younger generations make music, it’s safe to assume that James’s catalogue is a resource that’ll be continually sifted through and sampled from.
In this three-part interview, he talks in-depth regarding details of his career: The first part of the interview touches on colorful names that are intermingled with his history, its development and legacy. Next, he reflects back on his first three CTI releases, breaking down the most sampled songs on each album. In the interview’s final component, Bob James explains the process of sample requests throughout the years, its affect on him, and why he’s “flattered to be a part of hip-hop’s history.”
I. Quincy, Creed, and the Biz:
What role did Quincy Jones have in developing your career? … Continue reading
‘Altair & Vega’ Rises Up in Downbeat Magazine
Altair & Vega
EONE MUSIC 2125
Altair & Vega is an ambitious, unique and well-executed album that’s the product of a 12-year collaboration between Bob James and Keiko Matsui. The CD, which includes a DVD, finds the pair expoloring the four-hand piano tradition of the 19th century. James and Matsui, who play together so well they sound like one person, blur the line between jazz and classical. Eighth-notes are often straight, most of the music is written, and the fair amount of rubato and sustain pedal gives the music a slight Romantic period feel, especially on Matsui’s “Invisible Wing.” James’ “Divertimento” is a variation of a piano duet piece by Haydn on which James and Matsui converse in various jazz and classical dialects. James’ arrangement of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring” stays relatively close to the original melody, although the several reharmonized sections are quite dissonant. The more jazz-inspired pieces, such as the title track, are quiet, introspective and frequently quite gorgeous.