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>> JAZZ SUPER-GROUP FOURPLAY DOES SONGS FROM 1999 RELEASE 'SNOWBOUND'

December 17, 2009 3:14 am

BY ZACK SMITH

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

If you have not heard of Bob James, it is still quite likely you have heard his music. The Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist will be arriving at the Birchmere this Saturday with the supergoup Fourplay for a sold-out night of holiday music and some smooth jazz.

Though he began his career in the 1960s, it was in the '70s that James rose to the heights of jazz fusion fame. "Angela" is probably his best-known song, though most people know it as the theme to "Taxi"--a comedy that introduced the world to Danny DeVito and Andy Kaufman among others.

The album it was on, "Touchdown," went gold, and then things got interesting.

"That was a great time in my life, a real turning point for me," said James, speaking from his snowbound home near Traverse City, Mich.

"It was shortly after I had left CTI Records, and it was a pretty good time for the tail end of the LP era and the beginning of the CD era."

The music he produced started to find its way into a new radio format, and eventually James became known as a "smooth jazz" artist.

"This phenomenon of smooth jazz was thrust upon us by radio and a lot of other things. They cherry-picked our records and our music--some of us anyway--picked out smooth stuff because it fit their format on the radio. Out of that has grown a genre where some of the artists are indeed "smooth jazz" artists, and they actually think about that when they are creating the music. I don't."

Evidence of this is clear on Fourplay's most recent CD, the Grammy-nominated "Energy." Music on the recording blends R&B, pop, jazz, African rhythms and more. A strong Quincy Jones influence is felt on bassist Nathan East's "The Whistler," while the composition "Cape Town" has a vintage "quiet storm" quality. There is even a nod to Johann Sebastian Bach in "Sebastian," which is based on a chord progression James took from the great Baroque composer. Guitarist Larry Carlton and drummer Harvey Mason shine on the album as well.

"I like to create music in a more abstract way, without thinking in advance about what somebody might like after the fact." James said.

"I think my responsibility is to stay faithful to what I hear myself. Having said that, I would admit that having gotten a little older maybe I am more mellow, and maybe romantic, smoother music is more appealing to me."

But it would be a mistake to write off James' skills as a jazz player. He has played with some of the best throughout his career, including legendary saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.

"There was a tour that I remember doing that he was on, and Ray Brown was playing bass--and the combination of the two of them, the strength of the swing that they played, was so unbelievably solid that you almost couldn't help riding along with it. I felt like I learned so much by just listening and trying to hang in there with them."

Through a career that spans more than five decades James has seen a lot, but one of the stranger things is how he became a fixture in hip-hop music. Samples from his compositions "Nautilus" and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" have been used by numerous rap and hip-hop artists including Run-D.M.C., Erik B. & Rakim, Ghostface Killa and Slick Rick.

"I thought at first that it was just some kind of a fluke that they stumbled on my stuff, because I really wasn't directly involved in it and I still am not. I guess I was lucky enough to become part of this early lexicon of the history. It's fascinating to just watch it from a distance. I'm basically very proud of it. I have heard and occasionally spoken with fans of that music who tell me that they have learned about my stuff through hip-hop and then gone on to listen to my songs in their original form."

When Fourplay arrives in Washington, the group plans to play a mix of jazz and seasonal music, much of it from their 1999 release, "Snowbound."

"We're actually really looking forward to that," said James. "It's one of our favorite records. Of course you can only do that material at this time of year. It won't be all Christmas music, but we will definitely be doing some of that stuff."

Zack Smith is a local freelance writer, musician and educator. Reach him at
Email: barzac@aol.com.