The veteran Grammy-winning American pianist, composer, and producer continues to break new ground with his third album for evosound.
Usually, when most people reach the venerable age of 83, they have already been enjoying the fruits of their retirement for several years. However, Bob James, who will celebrate his 84th birthday on Christmas Day, 2023, is still working hard on the stage and in the recording studio. The veteran pianist, composer, and producer - who is a two-time Grammy winner - is back with his 36th solo album, Jazz Hands, his third and most impressive outing yet for the high-end audio label evosound, whose talent roster he joined in 2018.
Since the early 1970s, when James famously ignited his career in spectacular fashion at producer Creed Taylor’s CTI label, he has forged a reputation as a remarkable musical alchemist, someone who can take different sonic elements - sourced from the worlds of jazz, soul, funk, classical music and more recently hip-hop - and transform them into a form of musical gold that is unique.
He is, then, renowned for exploring different musical landscapes and having the ability to dissolve musical boundaries. Still, his new album takes his adventures in musical experimentation so much further than before, as he readily acknowledges. “Jazz Hands is probably the most eclectic album I’ve done,” he says. “There’s not really one specific genre, and there were a lot of different musicians involved at different periods. I think it definitely represents my eclectic tastes in music.”
The album, which was primarily recorded during the Covid pandemic and was produced by James with Sonny Abelardo, is packed with musical surprises, shifting from lively jazz-funk workouts to soft cinematic soundscapes and then moving on to bouncy hip-hop jams before heading to the dance floor with a stomping disco groove.
“The element of surprise is very important to me,” confesses James, who never likes to make predictable and formulaic music. “I constantly aim for that. I think when we have repetitive patterns, people can get comfortable. That can be a nice feeling, but I guess I’m quirky enough that I don’t want my listeners to get too comfortable because I want to ensure they stay awake. I want them to know that I might be taking them down a path they didn’t expect.”
One of the unexpected paths James takes on the new album that might surprise a few of his older fans is his collaboration with the legendary hip-hop turntablist and producer DJ Jazzy Jeff, best remembered for his partnership with the rapper Will Smith in the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, who won the first rap Grammy as well as scoring some big pop hits back in the day, including their 1987 smash, “A Touch Of Jazz,” which famously sampled Bob James’ classic track “Westchester Lady.”
James and Jeff joined forces on the tune “That Bop,” a thumping dance track overlain with elegant piano hooks. “It was fun to work with him so many years after he had sampled me in the past,” says James, who reveals they collaborated by sharing music files across the internet during the pandemic. “We also did a couple of other tunes that may see the light of day soon,” discloses James, who is keen to work with the hip-hop legend again. “I hope the next time we’ll actually be in the studio at the same time so that we can interact,” he says.
Another exciting musical surprise is the magnetic presence of the soulful Atlanta singer CeeLo Green, who is best remembered for his role as one-half of the popular US R&B duo Gnarls Barkley, who scored a massive worldwide hit with the infectious “Crazy” in 2006. Green collaborated with James to write Jazz Hands’ smoochy title track, a sensuous meld of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.
James met Green - who, coincidentally, sampled the pianist’s track “Angela” for the track “Sign Of The Times” from his 2015 album Heart Blanche - via a company called Tracklib, which licenses samples to young producers. “They commissioned CeeLo and me to create something new, and when we originally set out to do it, we only intended to have it be made available as samples,” reveals James. “But we were having so much fun that the thing just progressed into a full-out session where I had a chance to see how CeeLo worked.”
James also worked on the same track alongside Green’s producer, hip-hop doyen Corey Mo. “It was a very exciting, fresh, and new experience for me, so I’m very happy to have made that collaboration,” he says.
James’ new album is also a showcase for his young touring trio, consisting of bassist Michael Palazzolo and drummer James Adkins, who bring a youthful zest both to the energetic opener “Mambalicious” and the playful “Beerbohm,” the latter a homage to James’ long-time friend and musical ally, uber-producer Quincy Jones. Palazzolo also contributes a striking composition called “The Alchemist.” Says James about his young musical compadres: “I love the energy that I get from them. What I really like about James is his really fresh and positive attitude. And Michael is a great bass player who has the potential to be a very talented composer.”
Bob James also spotlights another rising young jazz star on the track “The Secret Drawer,” released as the album’s first single; Ukrainian saxophone player Andrey Chmut, who first contacted the pianist via Facebook a few years ago. “He’s just a great human being, very spiritual and super-talented,” enthuses James. “I’m happy to have been able to showcase him a little bit on this album - and I expect to be doing much more with him in the future.”
James co-wrote “The Secret Drawer” with Rachel Kwag, a fellow composer/arranger whom he describes as his “creative consultant” who plays a significant role in his musical life. “She’s a very experienced professor at a music school in South Korea, where I first met her, and she became a very close friend,” reveals James, who previously worked with her on the album On Vacation, his 2020 collaboration with German trumpeter Till Brönner. “I like having somebody objectively listening to my music to give me insight and help me focus on the direction”, explains James of Kwag. “We ended up doing some collaborating together as well.”
Elsewhere in the album, James shows his versatility by delivering a bluesy late-night ballad (“The Otherside,” composed by Sonny Abelardo, also an evocative Iberian reverie (“Come Into My Dream,” featuring the mellifluous saxophone playing of smooth jazz legend Dave Koz), and a quirky marriage of jazz improv and hip-hop drum loops called “Mophead.”
Different again is Jazz Hands’ final cut, an extended composition called “Sea Goddess.” It was recorded live several years ago, capturing the time when Bob James fronted an all-star band of LA session players on a jazz cruise across the Caribbean Sea. Says James: “‘Sea Goddess’ is the only fully live performance on Jazz Hands, where everything was done all at the same time. I composed it, especially for the cruise, and it was never performed after that, so I was very eager for it to have a life. That was the only time I had a chance to work with the guitarist Dwight Sills, who played a beautiful solo on it, as did Tom Braxton, the saxophone player.”
Jazz Hands is a masterful creation that easily ranks among Bob James’ very best albums; it’s right up there alongside his earlier masterpieces like One, Two, Grand Piano Canyon, and the more recent Espresso. Simultaneously classic and contemporary, it bears all the hallmarks of his greatest artistic triumphs, capturing the pianist at the very top of his game. Above all, it shows that despite his 83 years and seven long decades in the music business, Bob James is still a relevant, cutting-edge artist.
“My life is music, and as long as I’m able to play it, I’ll keep feeling young,” he says, happily reassuring his many fans that retirement is not on his radar just yet.
Jazz Hands will be released by evosound on 15th September 2023
The album will be available in several formats: as a 180g vinyl LP* (which includes a special limited edition Solid Blue Colored pressing- out on September 22nd 2023) and via SACD - Hybrid Stereo and MQA-CD editions.
About Jazz Hands:
Jazz Hands is Bob James’ third outing for evosound, following in the wake of 2018’s Espresso and 2022’s Feel Like Makin’ LIVE. Produced by the pianist with his manager Sonny Abelardo, the ten-track album was mostly recorded during the months of the Covid pandemic and featured James in a number of different musical settings. It also features a stellar cameo from the ex-Gnarls Barkley singer CeeLo Green on the sensuous title track and includes production input from the legendary hip-hop turntablist DJ Jazzy Jeff, who rose to fame as half of the hit-making ‘80s/’90s rap duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince, early samplers of James’ music. Blending cool jazz tropes with funky dance floor grooves, blues-tinged ballads, cinematic mood pieces, and sensuous slow jams, Jazz Hands is the Missouri pianist’s most eclectic album of his long career. Simultaneously classic and contemporary, it’s Bob James at his majestic, ground-breaking, and timeless best.
About Bob James:
Originally from Marshall, Missouri, two-time Grammy winner Bob James (b. 1939) has enjoyed a tremendously varied career that many fascinating twists and turns have characterized. To some, he’s a hip-hop icon because samples of his music played a pivotal role in the foundation of rap, while to others, he’s the godfather of smooth jazz. After being discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in 1962, James made his mark at producer Creed Taylor’s CTI label in the 1970s when he was the architect of an innovative new sound that fused jazz with classical music and funk. James’ music found a broader audience in 1978 after his track “Angela” was used as the theme to the popular US TV sitcom, Taxi. He also ran his record label, Tappan Zee, for many years, has released albums dedicated to classical music, and co-founded the popular and hugely successful smooth jazz group Fourplay. Now signed to international record label, evosound, he is releasing his new album, Jazz Hands this year.
Jazz Hands Track Listing (SACD and MQA-CD):
- The Otherside
- Jazz Hands
- Come Into My Dream
- Beerbohm
- The Alchemist
- Mophead
- That Bop
- The Secret Drawer
- Sea Goddess
Jazz Hands Track Listing (LP- Solid Blue and Black):
Side 1:
Side 2:
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