Bob James is a very influential pianist and musician. Here we get to experience him in a vintage 1965 and fresh 2020 bottling. Things have happened to say the least. The legend and icon Bob James is around 80, but is still in full vigor. Here we get to greet him in two very different editions – one quite expected and predictable, the other very surprising.
Just after young James had arrived in New York and got the coveted job as pianist and musical director for vocal star Sarah Vaughan – a job he had for about four years – he also had the opportunity to explore other aspects of his talent. James was in fact attracted to both bebop, standard songs and faith, that or not, quite an experimental free jazz. He had the opportunity to record several examples of this. Some were never released and actually forgotten – until now.The then 25-year-old Bob James was on two occasions in 1965 invited by the even younger enthusiast George Klabin to record exactly the music he wanted. Both in January and October, it happened in a trio, both with musicians from the Vaughan band, drummer Omar Clay and bassist Larry Rockwell, and with relatively unknown friends from his student days in Ann Arbor.
Klabin has remained an enthusiast and in recent years, through his record company Resonance Records, has conducted an exceptionally thorough and wonderful musical archeological work with Zev Feldman. They have found unknown material with, among others, Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery and Nat King Cole, put the sound in “perfect” condition and given the releases a wrap that testifies to a true love of music. They have definitely done that with this Bob James recording as well.
Here we are served everything from famous songs like Rollins´ “Airegin” and Miles´ “Solar”, via original compositions to fairly free excursions. All quite far away from the James we have become acquainted with in recent decades, but a wonderful document that says a lot about where he came from and what versatility he possesses.
When Resonance Records has done a fantastic job of digging up the music, making a brilliant booklet of around 40 pages with lots of interesting material, where James admits that he had forgotten that the recordings were made at all, and great pictures from this era, this has become a rare and very good memory.
For a large audience around the world, Bob James has from the 70’s until today become known as one of smooth jazz’s most central performers. The music of the TV show “Taxi”, the band Fourplay and a great inspiration for a number of hip hopers who have sampled his music, have been important ingredients when it comes to James’ enormous popularity.
This is also where we meet him with the German trumpeter and vocalist Till Brönner on the recent release “On Vacation”. The elegance and sense of taste of James, both as a tangentist and composer, there is absolutely no doubt about, but whether it is particularly exciting what he and Brönner, among other things with the help of drum elegant Harvey Mason, gives us, is highly doubtful .
The music is pretty – very pretty actually – and partly very smooth. The lyrics of the type “Here´s to life, let´s hava a lemonade” are not exactly of the memorable kind either, but I am still sure that the millions around the world who have been fascinated by both soft jazz and not least Bob James also, will be seduced once again by these soft tones.
In any case, this has been an interesting meeting with Bob James in both 1965 and 2020.