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)
“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
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.
Mike Ragogna: Hello Bob.
Bob James: It’s great to be speaking with you, Mike.
MR: Thank you very much, and thank you for spending some time with me today.
BJ: I’m speaking to you from Traverse City, Michigan.
MR: Is Traverse City where you’re set up? Is that where your label, Tappan Zee, is?
BJ: Sort of. Tappan Zee has dwindled down to basically being just an expanded version of me. It’s not really a record company, a big warehouse or anything like that. Traverse City is my home now, and most of the year it gets awfully cold here in the Winter time, so I escape down to Savannah for three or four months in the Winter time.
A simply delightful dual disc, with the video concert including three selections also on the CD plus three different ones. The pair of pianists come from quite different backgrounds: James fronts the band Fourplay, and Matsui performs and records more jazz-oriented material under her own name. The two have resurrected what once was a very popular family music-making tradition—the cozy setup of two pianists sitting on the same piano bench and playing music especially written for four hands at the keyboard. Schubert, Schumann, Mozart and others wrote many such pieces, and others arranged popular solo piano selections and even some orchestral selections for four-hand performance. This is a combination of the East and West in music and falls into that ever-expanding area that partakes of both classical and jazz genres but is really neither.
Former John Stevens sideman Francis Graham-Dixon reviews Fourplay in performance on the eve of the London Jazz Festival and asks why is this kind of music generally so ill-served by the jazz press?
Fourplay embarked 20 years ago on a collective project that has stood the test of time. Those lucky enough to witness their performance at The Grand, Clapham at the end of a European tour were treated to a spellbinding night of music combining emotional power and intensity with peerless virtuoso brilliance; hardly a surprise when you consider that this group of musicians comprise some of the very best instrumentalists and songwriters of any era, and all at the top of their game. Yet I have seen no other review of this brilliant gig in the jazz press. Why is this kind of music generally so ill-served by the specialists? … Continue reading
Photo by Christian Nordstrom
“After 20 years of Fourplay, maybe they felt we should move on…”, says Chuck Loeb in a jocular manner later that night, employing the pun on words in the band’s name when introducing one of the songs he contributed to Fourplay’s 12th album “Let’s Touch the Sky“. While the cover art suggests that very endeavor with the band member’s hands reaching up, nearly two hours of stellar live music performances left no doubt among avid music lovers who had flocked to Bayerischer Hof Night Club on this November, 8th 2011 night that Smooth Jazz’s famous supergroup are doing exactly that: They’re not only touching the sky, but weaving a musical skyscape with arrangements and solos that exude virtuosity, verve and vitality in equal parts.
Katharina Ehmki, CEO of Ehmki Music Management, promoter and press relations at the venue, landed the renowned music act as a major highlight of her New York at Bayerischer Hof series, and proved her experienced hand at knowing Jazz fans’ expectations: Fourplay packed the place to the last available seat and had every non-seated area crowded as well! Which might explain why fans had started to line up well before admittance at 8 pm, as Fourplay had sold out many venues prior to coming to Munich.
The Grand in Clapham has not long re-opened its doors after a cool half a million quid was spent on a major refurbishment. The revamp of this important 111 year-old listed building is described as “demanding of passion and vision…. A labour of both preservation and re-invention. “
Having been there in the 1990s shooting a show and since the refurb’, to do an interview and photo shoot, I can confirm they did a marvellous job in bringing this beautiful theatre back to life, and providing London with a venue to be very proud of. Sight lines and acoustics are spot on. Staff friendly and facilities are fine.
Passion. Vision. Preservation. Re-invention. Apt labels that could also be applied to the band I went to see there. Fourplay. The so-called Jazz “Supergroup,” who have clocked up two decades since celebrated pianist and film/TV score composer Bob James, grabbed bass legend Nathan East and drum hero Harvey Mason at a recording session for his own album in 1990, and suggested they form a band. Guitar star Lee Ritenour completed the quartet and they were off, with the release of their million selling self-titled debut album in 1991. Lee stayed for six years, until the great Larry Carlton replaced him. Celebrating their 12th album, the guys flew into London for a one-night stand in Clapham, minus Larry; who left to focus on his solo career last year. But they brought with them Mr Charles Loeb on guitar. Chuck to his friends, having played on many sessions with Bob over the years. Big shoes to fill for sure, and he himself told me in the dressing room in the afternoon, a daunting task when he got the call, but one he took on with relish and brought many, many new tricks to the party. His own.
