Bob James

Grammy Award-winning artist Bob James performing live at the 1985 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, an event that's considered to be among the best ever in the industry and that James recalls as one of the most memorable of his long and illustrious career. Songs featured include "Touchdown," "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby," "Night Crawler," "Unicorn," "Westchester Lady/Lucille," "Zebra Man," "Angela (Theme from Taxi)," "Winding River" and more.

Bob James s'est fait un nom dans la fusion et le smooth jazz, mais certains d'entre nous pensent que les disques de trio acoustique du pianiste représentent son art le plus élevé. Son album Straight Up de 1996, avec le bassiste Christian McBride et le batteur Brian Blade, et Take It from the Top de 2004, avec le bassiste James Genus et le batteur Billy Kilson, sont des moments forts de leur carrière et des joyaux de leur genre. Ces disques n'échapperont jamais à l'ombre de Touchdown de 1978 ou de One de 1975, mais maintenant, James nous offre le meilleur des deux mondes, revisitant ses plus grands succès dans un format trio et en ajoutant d'autres morceaux. Malgré son titre, Feel Like Making LIVE! n'est pas un enregistrement de concert.

This is the debut of Fourplay, a popular quartet comprised of keyboardist Bob James, guitarist Lee Ritenour, bassist Nathan East, and drummer Harvey Mason. The music sounds more or less like a Bob James small-group date with Ritenour as a major soloist. The style is between jazz, R&B, and pop with an emphasis on lightweight originals, soulful and moderately funky rhythms, and predictable radio-friendly music. Nothing unexpected occurs, but fans of James and Ritenour should enjoy both this CD and Fourplay in general.

The world's top contemporary jazz ensemble performs live in South Africa, blending their smooth jazz signature sound with large doses of pop, R&B and African beats.