BOB JAMES - THE GENIE
On The Genie, Bob James features his great compositions that were used as incidental
and theme music for the long-running television series, Taxi. James is joined
here by a tremendous cast of musicians. In addition to "Angela,"
Taxi's mellow and very recognizable main theme and also a highlight of James'
Touchdown, James and his comrades jam on several great tracks. Since so many of
the tunes were only used as snippets on the television series, only the most
diehard Taxi fans would recognize them from the show. Familiar or not, however,
these cuts carry with them the feeling of background music, as opposed to being
a typical James recording. Most noteworthy are "Brooklyn Heights
Boogie," "The Genie" and "Groove for Julie." Perfect
driving music. All tracks have been digitally remastered. ~ CD Universe
BOB JAMES - 12
12 is of
historic value because it introduced saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who was still a
year away from debuting as a leader with 1985's Floppy Disk. One of the more
noteworthy albums that Bob James came out with in the '80s, 12 finds him
featuring the up-and-coming Whalum on three selections: the funky "No Pay,
No Play," the pensive "Midnight" and Whalum's own "Ruby,
Ruby, Ruby" (a slightly Spyro Gyra-ish number). While those selections are
enjoyable, the strongest tune on the CD is James' haunting, Chick Corea-influenced
"Legacy." Like most of James' projects, 12 suffers from excessive
producing and arranging. But despite that shortcoming, it's certainly more
creative than knee-jerk, by-the-book releases like Heads, Lucky Seven, Sign of
the Times and Touchdown. ~ Alex Henderson All tracks have been digitally
remastered.
BOB JAMES - FOXIE
Because
so many of Bob James' albums have been devoid of integrity and epitomized
musical prostitution at its most shameless, quite a few people in the jazz
world (both fusionists and hard boppers) dismiss everything he's done since
1974. But it's best to judge the keyboardist on an album-by-album basis and not
lump all of his releases together. Not a gem but certainly superior to
Touchdown or Sign of the Times, Foxie has its moments. Some of the pop-jazz
material is decent, including the delicate "Miranda," the
reggae-influenced "Calaban," and the relaxed "Fireball."
The playful "Zebra Man" employs David Sanborn on soprano sax;
regrettably, he simply meanders and doesn't get a chance to stretch. None of
the songs are brilliant, but with the exception of "Marco Polo," none
of them are schlocky either. ~ Alex Henderson. All tracks have been digitally
remastered.
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