![]() Over time, James’ funky grooves became frequent hip-hop fodder, making him one of the most sampled jazz artists. ![]() In the ’90s he formed the long-lasting supergroup Fourplay with Lee Ritenour, Nathan East, and Harvey Mason. James remained a smooth-jazz star thereafter, but detours into classical music showed he still had an eclectic soul. By 1978’s Touchdown (which featured “Angela,” his hugely popular theme for TV’s Taxi), he’d perfected that radio-friendly sound. ![]() His next couple of releases mixed experimental impulses with the fusion of jazz, pop, and funk that would soon make him famous. His Quincy Jones-produced 1963 debut album, Bold Conceptions, was a brash mix of bebop and avant-garde jazz, while the follow-up was a full-on free-jazz exploration. Born in Missouri in 1939, James was a child prodigy on piano, turning pro in the ’50s. Towards the end of the decade his music started becoming synonymous in hip-hop, with his tracks 'Nautilus' and 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras' being widely used by a host of artists and his song 'Sign of the Times' sampled by Warren G on his US number two hit 'Regulate' in 1994.In the 1990s James started leading the jazz quartet Fourplay, but continued releasing acclaimed solo albums such as 'Grand Piano Canyon', 'Playin' Hooky' and 'Take It from the Top', and more recently worked with flutist Nancy Stagnitta on 'In the Chapel in the Moonlight' in 2017.Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10.Keyboardist Bob James is one of the most popular smooth-jazz musicians ever, but that’s not the entirety of his story. Even someone who is not well-versed in modern jazz may know a song from this record, the theme from the 70s-80s TV show, Taxi is on. Touchdown Bob James JAZZ 1977 Preview 1 Angela (Theme From Taxi) 5:45 2 Touchdown 5:44 3 I Want To Thank You (Very Much) 7:10 4 Sun Runner 6:19 5 Caribbean Nights 9:20 J5 Songs, 34 minutes 1978 Tappan Zee Records under license to Evolution Ltd. Immediately thereafter, he cut a disco version of the Theme to Star Trek: The Motion Picture a 45 of which was included with the soundtrack LP and recorded the album Touchdown (Tappan Zee, 1978). He also tried his hand at classical music on the album 'Rameau'. After three solo albums, James founded his own record label, Tappan Zee. His track 'Angela' became the iconic soundtrack to the hugely popular sitcom 'Taxi' and he won Grammy Awards in 1981 for 'One On One', his collaboration with guitarist Earl Klugh, and in 1987 with saxophonist David Sanborn for 'Double Vision'. Full of simple laid-back melodies, light, airy grooves, and quiet backdrops, it's a smooth jazz 'masterpiece.' It's an enduring part of his catalog and was the launch pad for many movie and television projects, and for a string of hit recordings for the Warner label in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. He was discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in 1962 and signed to Mercury Records for his debut album 'Bold Conceptions', which showcased a loose, experimental style.He honed his reputation by working in New York as a studio musician and arranger for the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Chet Baker, Milt Jackson and Grover Washington Jr., but he really made his name in the the mid-1970s with soulful, funky albums 'One', 'Two' and 'Three' and founded his own label called Tappan Zee. ![]() A natural musician with perfect pitch, he started playing at the age of four and grew up performing at state fairs and local dances, before studying at the University of Michigan and Berklee College of Music, where he fell into the world of free jazz. The infectiously slick, melodic grooves of pianist Bob James were a staple of the smooth jazz scene in the 1970s and later became one of the strutting sounds of early hip-hop when his work was sampled by Run DMC, NWA and Wu-Tang Clan. ![]()
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