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A Special Double Billed Show

Tickets are also available at the Portland'5 Box Office . Service charges apply. Ticket prices on day of show: $75–$105.

2024 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival: Bob James Quartet + Lee Ritenour

The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn. From his first days in Marshall, Missouri, the music of Bob James has captivated audiences throughout the world.

Discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, James recorded his first solo album,  Bold Conceptions , that year for Mercury Records. 58 albums and innumerable awards would follow through five decades. He honed his skills working with Creed Taylor, working on albums for artists like Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr, among others. While with CTI, James found great popular success overseeing significant hits for Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Maynard Ferguson, and Kenny Loggins.

In 1974, James finally recorded his own album,  One , which launched a lifelong career of recording and performing live. After three more albums, James began his own label, Tappan Zee Records. This allowed James to spend more time in the studio, focusing on his own creative works. It was during this time that he recorded his own gold seller,  Touchdown , which included his composition, “Angela”, the instrumental theme from the sitcom  Taxi , and possibly James’ best know work. Bob composed all the original music used in that television series for its entire run.  One On One , the first in three collaborations with Earl Klugh, was awarded a Grammy in 1980 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and has sold over a million copies. During this time, James set the standard for the smooth jazz sound in the late 1970s.

A different aspect of the musical talent of Bob James was demonstrated on his three classical albums recorded for the CBS Masterworks division, the first of which was  Rameau  released in 1984, and followed by  The Scarlatti Dialogues  & Bach keyboard concertos with the Pekinel Sisters.

In 1985 James moved to Warner Bros Records, and kicked things off with  Double Vision , a collaboration with David Sanborn, and produced by Tommy LiPuma. Double Vision  was another Grammy winner, selling over a million albums.

While recording his album,  Grand Piano Canyon , in 1990, James reunited with longtime friend, drummer Harvey Mason, Jr.  It would also be the first time James would work with guitarist Lee Ritenour, and bassist Nathan East.  This would be the start of something beautiful, as these early sessions ignited a spark which would engulf the Jazz world as Fourplay. Fourplay’s first album was recorded and released in 1991. The Group would collaborate on a total of three albums, until 1998 when Ritenour left the group, and Larry Carlton took over. This version of Fourplay continued the group’s huge success for seven more albums. After 12 years, Carlton decided to delve further into his solo career, and the band brought in guitarist Chuck Loeb in 2010.

A personal and professional highlight was the collaboration with his daughter, Hilary, on their  Flesh & Blood  album, which toured 15 U.S. cities. James continued collaborating on separate projects with Earl Klugh, ( Cool ) and Kirk Whalum ( Joined At the Hip ). Both albums were nominated for Grammys. His solo career continued throughout the '90s, culminating with Joy Ride  in 1999, and another Grammy nomination.

In 2001,  Dancing on the Water , was released, once again showcasing James’ creative versatility. The album includes performances with Keiko Matsui, Joe Sample, Dave Holland, and Chuck Loeb. Fourplay released  Heartfelt  in 2002, and spent much of the year touring across the globe. That same year, James released  Morning, Noon, & Night , whose title track went to #1 in Contemporary Jazz Radio.

While appearing at New York’s Blue Note, in February of 2003, James went into the Hit Factory with Billy Kilson, James Genus, and Ken Freeman on the board. The result was  Take It From the Top , a tribute to pianists who inspired James; Ahmad Jamal, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson, among others.

The very next year James was at it again, with Fourplay releasing  Journey  in 2004. Fourplay toured most of the year, culminating with a trip to South Africa in November of 2005 and a final tour stop in Bangkok, Thailand in December. This event featured the world premiere live performance of James’ ‘The Angels of Shanghai.’  This project encompased several months in the Far East collaborating with students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who played ancient Chinese instruments, as well as James Genus, Nathan East, and Harvey Mason. This project finally toured the U.S. in 2007, and culminated with a performance later in the year at the prestigious Seongnam Art Center in Seoul, Korea, where James was also invited to have a solo exhibit of his art in conjunction with the performance.

James stayed busy in 2006, releasing  Urban Flamingo  in February, and on April 7, was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. Summer saw the release of Fourplay’s tenth record, appropriately called  X . This tour literally took James around the world again with stops in Spain, London, California, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuala Lumpur, and Indonesia.

In 2008, James released a Christmas album with Hilary James, and another Fourplay album,  Energy . Energy  featured Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding, and another Grammy nomination with the first single, “Fortune Teller”. The year ended on a high note with James and close friend, the Tony award winning Broadway director Jack O’Brien, receiving the International Achievement Award by the state of Michigan.

Bob has maintained a commitment to sophisticated production and arrangements, while stretching out in different and new directions. This culminated with another busy year in 2009 with the release of  The Very Best of Bob James . Not stopping there, James also released  Botero , a collaboration with Jack Lee, composed music for the Broadway play ‘Impressionism’, and recorded  Across the Groove , a collaboration with Japanese sax player Masato Honda, all in the same year. This again led James touring across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

2010 saw the twelfth Fourplay album released,  Let’s Touch the Sky , which led to another world tour, culminating with an unforgettable collaboration with the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo in December. This premiered new orchestral pieces arranged specifically for this concert, and was Fourplay’s first performance with a symphony orchestra. Fourplay was voted Best Group of the Year at the American Smooth Jazz Awards to wrap up a busy 2010.

2011 brought devastating natural disasters to Japan, and James, with a close relationship to the region wanted to contribute to the relief  efforts. This led to the Jazz for Japan benefit album, and the Iwate benefit concert, headlined by James.

Then, in September 2011,  Altair & Vega , the Four-Hand piano duet collaboration with Keiko Matsui, was released. This unique collaboration which took nearly 10 years, resulted in several memorable live tour performances, before being completed as a recorded album, along with a live performance DVD recorded at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. Later that same year, James released a collaboration with Savannah guitarist Howard Paul with  Just Friends: The Hamilton Hall Sessions . All this, while still touring with Fourplay, including headlining the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, and receiving the Oasis Contemporary jazz award for ‘Group of the Year’. James was also honored in his hometown of Marshall, MO, with the inaugural ‘Bob James Jazz Festival’.

Fourplay joined forces again the following year with the release of  Esprit de Four . The album hit the charts, producing several successful tracks, including the powerful “Put Our Hearts Together”, which featured vocals by Seiko Matsuda.  he song was a tribute to the regions of Japan devastated by the natural disasters just months earlier, and spawned several benefit concerts, such as the Iwate Jazz Festival, and a full length documentary of James’ visit to the region.

In 2013  Quartette Humaine  was released. This was the first creative collaboration between keyboardist-composer Bob James and alto saxophonist David Sanborn since their million-selling, Grammy-winning album,  Double Vision , twenty-five years ago.

2015 brought the release of James’ first live album, Live at the Milliken Auditorium, which was captured on a magical night in his home town of Traverse City, Michigan. This same year also brought the first release from James and long time collaborator Nathan East,  The New Cool , a masterful work of art which truly redefines the essence of cool. Still not finished, James and Fourplay came together for the release of the group’s 25th anniversary with  Silver , which was recorded old school at Sunset Sound Studios, where the group recorded their first album 25 years earlier.

While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs—“Nautilus” from 1974’s  One  and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s  Two  —are among the most sampled in hip hop history. According to whosampled.com, “Nautilus” and “Take Me to Mardi Gras” have been sampled in thirty-two and forty-three hip-hop recordings, respectively. The title track from his 1981 album  Sign of the Times  was sampled in De La Soul‘s “Keepin’ the Faith”, and Warren G‘s “Regulate”. His “Angela” was sampled in the track “Cab Fare” by Souls of Mischief. The track “El Verano” from the 1977 album BJ4 is used as a sample in the song “Blown Away” by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the Masta Ace Track “NY Confidential”. N.W.A‘s “Alwayz into Somethin'” uses a sample of “Storm King” from the album  Three . “Can’t Wait” by Redman features a sample of “Caribbean Nights” from the album  Touchdown . English Drum & Bass pioneer Adam F extensively sampled “Westchester Lady” on his 1995 breakthrough release  Circles . Röyksopp sampled his version of “You’re as Right as Rain” for their instrumental track “Eple.” In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album  Still Standing .

Lee Ritenour

For Lee Ritenour, there aren’t many ‘firsts’ left to achieve. During his dazzling five-decade career, the fabled LA guitarist has taken his music to the outer limits, alighting on every genre and occupying every position in the rock ‘n’ roll firmament. He’s been an enfant terrible of ’70s fusion, a crossover star of the ’80s pop chart, an honorary exponent of Brazilian jazz, and the fingers behind ’90s supergroup, Fourplay. Ritenour’s accolades include: 45 albums, Grammy award winner, plus 16 Grammy nominations, Alumnus of the year at USC, Los Angeles’ Jazz Society Honoree (2019), plus thousands of sessions with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Pink Floyd, B.B. King, Tony Bennett, among others.

And yet, when he checks the rear-view mirror, the 68-year-old acknowledges he’s never made a record like  Dreamcatcher . “People have been telling me for years: ‘Rit, you gotta make a solo guitar record’. In the past, I’ve always been the band guy, the ensemble guy, the collaborative-guitar-player guy. So this was the one project I hadn’t done. And this year, I knew it was time.”

Weaving tapestries of instrumental guitar and conjuring eclectic moods, the 12 tracks of  Dreamcatcher  rank amongst the most melodic and tinglingly beautiful in Ritenour’s catalogue. But there’s a power and purpose here, too, hinting at the darker circumstances that sparked this new record. “Our house and my studio in Malibu, California burnt down in 2018,” he recalls. “About 100 of my guitars went up in the fire, plus 40 amps, lots of music, the history of my whole career, pretty much. A week after the fire, I went to the hospital, which I’d never had to do before, for surgery to replace an aortic valve. So those incidents and the support from my family and friends absolutely went into this music. Making this record was a life-saver for me.”

Dreamcatcher  might have been born from personal challenges, but the record took shape against the global tragedy of Covid-19. Ritenour had already written several key tracks before shutdown. But as he settled into the makeshift studio at his new home in Marina Del Rey, equipped with little more than seven guitars, a computer interface and good intentions, the guitarist let the context flood into the music he was tracking. “It was an important album for me,” he notes. “Especially now, with everything going on in the world.”

Even without lyrics, every track tells a story. Take the molten blues licks of “Abbot Kinney”, named for the fabled boulevard in Venice, California. “One day when everything was shut down,” says Ritenour, “I drove my bike there and was just devastated to find it completely empty. But then I heard this rock guitar start up. I don’t know if it was a kid, but somebody nearby had just turned it up to 10 and said, ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna have some fun’. It brought a huge smile to my face and inspired me to write that song on my Les Paul.”

Likewise, anyone living through the age of Covid-19 will feel a deep affinity with “2020”: a three-part symphony in which Ritenour takes the pulse of the times. “The three parts were a reflection of what was going on this year,” he nods, “when all of a sudden everybody’s life shut down. I was thinking about the young musicians that were out of work—and people in every walk of life.”

Elsewhere  Dreamcatcher  delves beyond the pandemic. While Ritenour strived to switch up musical styles—from the title track’s dovetailing classical guitars to the Taylor baritone that drives “Starlight’s” tumbling folk, and the mad scientist multi-tracking of “Couldn’t Help Myself” —he also ran the gamut of mood. “Because even I get tired,” he reasons, “of solo guitar albums when it pretty much all sounds the same.”

As such, “For DG” salutes the harmonic sensibilities of the great producer, pianist, and long-time comrade, Dave Grusin. But it couldn’t be further from “Charleston”, whose mellow slink is laced with bittersweet thoughts on the ebb and flow of US race relations. “A few years ago, I played in Charleston, South Carolina,” recalls Ritenour, “and it was charming and the people were warm, and it was a very mixed, soulful audience. Charleston has a history of the beginnings of slavery, but this was modernday Charleston, y’know? But then, a few years later, I’m writing this tune while watching the continuation of the struggle. As musicians who travel all over the world, we go, ‘What? This shit is still going on in the US?’ So it was appropriate to dedicate that song to Black Lives Matter.”

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Bob James tour dates 2024

Bob James is currently touring across 1 country and has 20 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Blue Note Napa in Napa, after that they'll be at Blue Note Napa again in Napa.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (20) See nearest concert

Blue Note Napa

Rams Head On Stage

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

The Jazz Kitchen

Keswick Theatre

Blue Note Jazz Club

Norfolk Jazz Festival

Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club

Past concerts

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Recent tour reviews

I never realized how much of a star Bob James is and he did NOT disappoint last night. His piano playing in the son’s Maluto with David Sanborn on the Alto sax was so warm smooth and the most wonderful sounds. The whole

concert was on a 0-10 point scale a 10.

Report as inappropriate

This ranks as one of the best jazz performances I've ever witnessed! At 78 years old, Bob had as much - if not more - energy as his sidemen and kept up that energy throughout the entire set. Speaking of the sidemen, they were phenomenal. The bass player looked like he couldn't have been more than 25 years old, but he had the chops of a seasoned jazz performer. The drummer was a beast! He was precise, deeply musical and a thrill to watch.

While Bob is known in many circles as a smooth jazz artist, don't let that label fool you. This was a smoldering jazz trio who cooked from beginning to end. If he brings the band to your town, do yourself a favor and go see them. A night to remember.

Bob James at Jazz Cafe, Camden London, 2nd May 2018

Jazz cafe is a nightclub where you stand to see the act

By the time bob James came on at 9:30 we had already been standing for 2.5 hours,long leg aching Hours. We forgot all that pain as he bounced onstage and gave us 90 minutes of spellbinding Jazz, playing both old tunes and showcasing some from his up coming album, his piano trio played with aplomb. We left exhilarated by the group with aching legs and a wish that next time bob comes to London he chooses a venue with seats!

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September 19-22, 2024

FEATURED ARTIST Bob James

The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn. From his first days in Marshall, Missouri, the music of Bob James has captivated audiences throughout the world.

Discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, James recorded his first solo album,  Bold Conceptions , that year for Mercury Records. 58 albums and innumerable awards would follow through five decades. He honed his skills working with Creed Taylor, working on albums for artists like Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr, among others.  While with CTI, James found great popular success overseeing significant hits for Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Maynard Ferguson, and Kenny Loggins.

In 1974, James finally recorded his own album,  One , which launched a lifelong career of recording and performing live. After three more albums, James began his own label, Tappan Zee Records.   This allowed James to spend more time in the studio, focusing on his own creative works.  It was during this time that he recorded his own gold seller,  Touchdown , which included his composition, “Angela”, the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, and possibly James’ best known work.  Bob composed all the original music used in that television series for its entire run. One On One , the first in three collaborations with Earl Klugh, was awarded a Grammy in 1980 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and has sold over a million copies. During this time, James set the standard for the smooth jazz sound in the late 1970s.

A different aspect of the musical talent of Bob James was demonstrated on his three classical albums recorded for the CBS Masterworks division, the first of which was  Rameau  released in 1984, and followed by  The Scarlatti Dialogues  & Bach keyboard concertos with the Pekinel Sisters.

In 1985 James moved to Warner Bros Records, and kicked things off with  Double Vision , a collaboration with David Sanborn, and produced by Tommy LiPuma.   Double Vision  was another Grammy winner, selling over a million albums.

While recording his album,  Grand Piano Canyon , in 1990, James reunited with longtime friend, drummer Harvey Mason, Jr.  It would also be the first time James would work with guitarist Lee Ritenour, and bassist Nathan East.  This would be the start of something beautiful, as these early sessions ignited a spark which would engulf the Jazz world as Fourplay.  Fourplay’s first album was recorded and released in 1991.  The Group would collaborate on a total of three albums, until 1998 when Ritenour left the group, and Larry Carlton took over.  This version of Fourplay continued the group’s huge success for seven more albums.  After 12 years, Carlton decided to delve further into his solo career, and the band brought in guitarist Chuck Loeb in 2010.

A personal and professional highlight was the collaboration with his daughter, Hilary, on their  Flesh & Blood  album, which toured 15 U.S. cities.  James continued collaborating on separate projects with Earl Klugh, (Cool) and Kirk Whalum (Joined At the Hip). Both albums were nominated for Grammys. His solo career continued throughout the 90’s, culminating with   Joy Ride  in 1999, and another Grammy nomination.

In 2001,  Dancing On the Water , was released, once again showcasing James’ creative versatility.  The album includes performances with Keiko Matsui, Joe Sample, Dave Holland, and Chuck Loeb.  Fourplay released  Heartfelt  in 2002, and spent much of the year touring across the globe.  That same year, James released  Morning, Noon, & Night , whose title track went to #1 in Contemporary Jazz Radio.

While appearing at New York’s Blue Note, in February of 2003, James went into the Hit Factory with Billy Kilson, James Genus, and Ken Freeman on the board.  The result was  Take It From the Top , a tribute to pianists who inspired James; Ahmad Jamal, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson, among others.

The very next year James was at it again, with Fourplay releasing  Journey  in 2004.  Fourplay toured most of the year, culminating with a trip to South Africa in November of 2005 and a final tour stop in Bangkok, Thailand in December.  This event featured the world premiere live performance of James’ ‘The Angels of Shanghai.’  This project encompased several months in the Far East collaborating with students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who played ancient Chinese instruments, as well as James Genus, Nathan East, and Harvey Mason.  This project finally toured the U.S. in 2007, and culminated with a performance later in the year at the prestigious Seongnam Art Center in Seoul, Korea, where James was also invited to have a solo exhibit of his art in conjunction with the performance.

James stayed busy in 2006, releasing  Urban Flamingo  in February, and on April 7, was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. Summer saw the release of Fourplay’s tenth record, appropriately called  X .  This tour literally took James around the world again with stops in Spain, London, California, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuala Lumpur, and Indonesia.

In 2008, James released a Christmas album with Hilary James, and another Fourplay album  Energy .   Energy  featured Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding, and another Grammy nomination with the first single, “Fortune Teller”.  The year ended on a high note with James and close friend, the Tony award winning Broadway director Jack O’Brien, receiving the International Achievement Award by the state of Michigan.

Bob has maintained a commitment to sophisticated production and arrangements, while stretching out in different and new directions.  This culminated with another busy year in 2009 with the release of  The Very Best of Bob James . Not stopping there, James also released  Botero , a collaboration with Jack Lee, composed music for the Broadway play ‘Impressionism’, and recorded  Across the Groove , a collaboration with Japanese sax player Masato Honda, all in the same year.  This again led James touring across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

2010 saw the twelfth Fourplay album released,  Let’s Touch the Sky , which led to another world tour, culminating with an unforgettable collaboration with the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo in December.  This premiered new orchestral pieces arranged specifically for this concert, and was Fourplay’s first performance with a symphony orchestra.  Fourplay was voted Best Group of the Year at the American Smooth Jazz Awards to wrap up a busy 2010.

2011 brought devastating natural disasters to Japan, and James, with a close relationship to the region wanted to contribute to the relief  efforts.  This led to the  Jazz for Japan  benefit album, and the Iwate benefit concert, headlined by James.

Then, in September 2011, Altair & Vega, the Four-Hand piano duet collaboration with Keiko Matsui, was released.  This unique collaboration which took nearly 10 years, resulted in several memorable live tour performances, before being completed as a recorded album, along with a live performance DVD recorded at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.  Later that same year, James released a collaboration with Savannah guitarist Howard Paul with  Just Friends: The Hamilton Hall Sessions .  All this, while still touring with Fourplay, including headlining the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, and receiving the Oasis Contemporary jazz award for ‘Group of the Year’.  James was also honored in his hometown of Marshall, MO, with the inaugural ‘Bob James Jazz Festival’.

Fourplay joined forces again the following year with the release of  Esprit de Four .  The album hit the charts, producing several successful tracks, including the powerful “Put Our Hearts Together”, which featured vocals by Seiko Matsuda.  The song was a tribute to the regions of Japan devastated by the natural disasters just months earlier, and spawned several benefit concerts, such as the Iwate Jazz Festival, and a full length documentary of James’ visit to the region.

In 2013  Quartette Humaine  was released.  This was the first creative collaboration between keyboardist-composer Bob James and alto saxophonist David Sanborn since their million-selling, Grammy-winning album,  Double Vision , twenty-five years ago.

2015 brought the release of James’ first live album,  Live at the Milliken Auditorium , which was captured on a magical night in his home town of Traverse City, Michigan.  This same year also brought the first release from James and long time collaborator Nathan East,  The New Cool , a masterful work of art which truly redefines the essence of cool.  Still not finished, James and Fourplay came together for the release of the group’s 25th anniversary, with  Silver , which was recorded old school at Sunset Sound Studios, where the group recorded their first album 25 years earlier.

While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s  One  and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s  Two  – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. According to whosampled.com, “Nautilus” and “Take Me to Mardi Gras” have been sampled in thirty-two and forty-three hip-hop recordings, respectively.  The title track from his 1981 album  Sign of the Times was sampled in De La Soul‘s “Keepin’ the Faith”, and Warren G‘s “Regulate”.  His “Angela” was sampled in the track “Cab Fare” by Souls of Mischief.  The track “El Verano” from the 1977 album BJ4 is used as a sample in the song “Blown Away” by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the Masta Ace Track “NY Confidential”.  N.W.A‘s “Alwayz into Somethin’” uses a sample of “Storm King” from the album  Three .  “Can’t Wait” by Redman features a sample of “Caribbean Nights” from the album  Touchdown .  English Drum & Bass pioneer Adam F extensively sampled “Westchester Lady” on his 1995 breakthrough release  Circles .  Röyksopp sampled his version of “You’re as Right as Rain” for their instrumental track “Eple.” In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album  Still Standing .

Saturday, Sept 16, 2023

3:30pm Highmark Stadium

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Bob James Quartet

Performance Information

The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn. From his first days in Marshall, Missouri, the music of Bob James has captivated audiences throughout the world. Discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, James recorded his first solo album, Bold Conceptions, that year for Mercury Records. 58 albums and innumerable awards would follow through five decades. He honed his skills working with Creed Taylor, working on albums for artists like Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr, among others. While with CTI, James found great popular success overseeing significant hits for Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Maynard Ferguson, and Kenny Loggins. While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s One and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s Two – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. Throughout the years, James has maintained a commitment to sophisticated production and arrangements, while stretching out in different and new directions.

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• Fri  |  Jun 21, 2024 7:45 PM On Sale Soon

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Grammy-nominated artist Marcus Miller has dozens of movie scores and over 500 recording credits to his name across Jazz, R&B, and Opera. He has worked with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Luther Vandross, Wayne Shorter, and David Sanborn, among others. His instruments include bass, guitar, vocals, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, and recorder. In 2012 Miller was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace, supporting and promoting the UNESCO Slave Route Project. In 2021, Bass Player magazine awarded Miller a Lifetime Achievement Award. Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist Bob James is renowned for exploring different musical landscapes and breaking boundaries. In 1962, while in college, his band entered the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, where the judges included Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones. The trio entered the competition playing avant-garde music in a contest promoting straight-ahead jazz. To the trio's surprise, they won the competition. Not long after, Jones signed James to an album deal with Mercury Records. Mercury released James's first album, Bold Conceptions (1963), a free jazz exploration that was produced by Quincy Jones and that differed from the smooth jazz for which he would later become known.

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Bob James Quartet feat. Andrey Chmut

Jazz Piano Legend

Date & Time

Sat Feb 18, 2023 • 6:30PM

Additional Shows

• Sat Feb 18, 2023 • 8:30PM
• Sun Feb 19, 2023 • 7PM

“one of the biggest stars of smooth jazz” –  Jazz Times 

Grammy winner and Fourplay founder  Bob James  is a legend in the world of jazz, with a discography of more than 58 albums. A pioneer in the sounds and style that came to be known as contemporary jazz, Bob’s shadow looms large over the music world of the last 50+ years.

Discovered by Quincy Jones in 1963, Bob went on to play piano for Sarah Vaughan, before becoming a solo artist in 1974. Many solo projects followed, as well as collaborations with such artists as Roberta Flack, David Sanborn, and Earl Klugh. Smooth jazz supergroup Fourplay brought improvised music to the mainstream in exciting new ways. And he’s still going as strong as ever.

He also recorded  Touchdown , which included his composition, “Angela,” the instrumental theme from the sitcom  Taxi , and possibly James’ best-known work. Bob composed all the original music used in that television series for its entire run.

While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip-hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs –“Nautilus” from 1974’s One  and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s  Two  – are among the most sampled in hip-hop history.

Inspired by Dave Koz and tutored by renowned music teacher Artem Mendelenko, saxophonist  Andrey Chmut  was born in the small town of Medzhybizh in Western Ukraine.  Since the age of five his mission has been to become a globally recognized saxophonist.

Upon graduating from Kyiv’s historic Glière Music College in 2015, he toured with Eurovision Song Contest winner Jamala, where he honed his stage skills performing in venues across Europe and beyond. Andrey cites Fourplay founder member Bob James as one of his major smooth jazz influences along with Kirk Whalum, Charlie Parker, and others.

LEARN MORE:   http://bobjames.com/

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Bob James Live at the Milliken Auditorium is Released!

The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College and Tappan Zee Records are pleased to announce the USA release of the new CD Bob James Live at the Milliken Auditorium as recorded in concert with the Grammy Award winning Jazz pianist Bob James and the Bob James Quartet on May 3, 2014.

The CD features Bob James – Piano with Perry Hughes – Guitar, Clarence Penn – Drums and Nathaniel Phillips – Bass.  It includes 8 extended tracks from the concert including, Blues Down Under 6:56; The Jody Grind 7:25; Skidaway 9:46; Where are You/Downtown 8:49; Night Crawler 7:07; Nautilus 7:03; Westchester Lady 6:20; Angela/Someone to Watch Over Me; 10:45.

The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jack Conners, Milliken Tech Director and features concert photography by Dave Dalquist. Production of the CD was made possible with a grant to the Dennos from the Begonia Charitable Foundation and managed by Sonny Abelardo. The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jack Conners, Milliken Tech Director and features concert photography by Dave Dalquist. Production of the CD was made possible with a grant to the Dennos from the Begonia Charitable Foundation and managed by Sonny Abelardo.“The first thing I said to Bob James that evening following the concert was – this has to be a live CD,” says Gene Jenneman, Executive Director of the Dennos Museum Center, “Bob has done many wonderful performances over the years for us at Milliken, including the truly amazing Angels of Shanghai debut in 2006, but the performance of the quartet that evening was magical and everyone knew something very special had just happened.” What was more amazing was that while Bob had performed with each of the members of the Quartet individually, the concert on May 3 rd was the first time they had all performed together.

The CD had its international debut with a recent concert tour with Bob James in Japan. It is now available in the USA via the Dennos Museum Store for $14.98 plus tax. A cut from the CD can be heard at www.bobjames.com . Proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit the Dennos Museum Center.

The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday’s until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. —————————————————————- Contact Eugene A. Jenneman, Executive Director:  (231) 995-1572 / [email protected]

Henry Somero for Bob James:  (231)313-7414 / [email protected]

Sonny Abelardo, Manager:  (407) 628-4231 / [email protected] —————————————————————- Brief Performer Bios

Bob James was discovered at the 1963 Notre Dame Jazz Festival by legendary producer Quincy Jones.  That same year he recorded his first solo album “Bold Conceptions” for Mercury Records. From there he went on to make his mark as the musical director for Sarah Vaughn.  Bob also worked on many successful albums for CTI Records.

In 1977 James started his own label, Tappan Zee Records, which gave him the opportunity to spend more time in the studio working on his own recordings.  During that time he recorded the gold award winning album “Touch Down,” which included his composition “Angela” from the TV show Taxi.

James won a Grammy Award in 1980 with the release of “One on One” with Earl Klugh and also in 1985 for the release of “Double Vision” with David Sanborn. In 2008 Bob and his close friend Tony award winning director Jack O’Brien, were awarded the International Achievement Award from the State of Michigan. Bob was also inducted in 2014 to the University of Michigan Hall of Fame.

Clarence Penn is a native of Detroit and started playing the drums semi-professionally at the age of 15. He has performed and recorded with many successful artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, and Roberta Flack. Clarence is very familiar with the Grand Traverse area as he attended the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Perry Hughes is a self-taught jazz guitarist who has lived most of his life in Detroit. He has performed and recorded with Bob James on numerous occasions and also with many of the world’s leading vocalists.

Bassist Nate Phillips has produced or played with a number of well-known artists and bands including The Crusaders, Bobby Caldwell, and Gerald Albright. He grew up outside Portland and was influenced by jazz and early fusion.

Album Credits Bob James: Live at the Milliken Auditorium

Produced by Bob James Executive Producers: Gene Jenneman, Bob James, Sonny Abelardo Recorded and Mixed by Jack Conners (Perfect World Studios) Recorded Live at the Milliken Auditorium/Dennos Museum Center, May 3, 2014 Art Direction: Kira Leanna Abelardo Cover and all Photos by: Dave Dalquist, waterholic.com Management: Sonny Abelardo Management Album coordination:  Sonny Abelardo assisted by Henry Somero, Manager of Tappan Zee Records/Unicorn Lodge Studios Grant Support: Begonia Charitable Foundation

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Bob James returns to Traverse City’s Milliken Auditorium on May 3

by Veritas on Apr.27, 2014, under News

Grammy Award winning Jazz Legend Bob James returns to the Milliken Auditorium with the Bob James Quartet.  Featuring James on piano, Clarence Penn on drums, Perry Hughes on guitar and Nate Phillips on bass.

Bob James was discovered at the 1963 Notre Dame Jazz Festival by legendary producer Quincy Jones.  That same year he recorded his first solo album “Bold Conceptions” for Mercury Records. From there he went on to make his  mark as the musical director for Sarah Vaughn.  Bob also worked on many successful albums for CTI Records.

In 1977 James started his is own label, Tappan Zee Records, which gave him the opportunity to spend more time in the studio working on his own recordings.  During that time he recorded the gold award winning album “Touch Down,” which included his composition “Angela” from the TV show Taxi.

James won a Grammy Award in 1980 for with the release of “One On One” with Earl Klugh and also in 1985 for the release of “Double Vision” with David Sanborn. In 2008 Bob and his close friend Tony award inning director Jack O’Brien, were awarded the International Achievement Award from the State of Michigan. Bob will also be inducted in the 2014 University of Michigan Hall of Fame this October.

Clarence Penn is a native of Detroit and started playing the drums semi-professionally at the age of 15. He has performed and recorded with many successful artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, and Roberta Flack. Clarence is very familiar with the Grand Traverse area as he attended the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Perry Hughes is a self taught jazz guitarist who has lived most of his life in Detroit. He has performed and recorded with Bob James on numerous occasions and also with many of  the worlds leading vocalists.

Bassist Nate Phillips has produced or played with a number of well known artists and bands including The Crusaders, Bobby Caldwell, and Gerald Albright. He grew up outside Portland and was influenced by jazz and early fusion.

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‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ Review: Patricia Clarkson Illuminates an Uneven West End Production

By David Benedict

David Benedict

• ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ Review: Patricia Clarkson Illuminates an Uneven West End Production 20 hours ago
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No one, wisely, has turned “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night” into an opera — not least because, arguably, Eugene O’Neill’s most famous play already is one. It features extended solo arias mixing memory and pain, and, excluding the maid’s comedy high notes, the near-negligible plot operates as a vocal quartet. The job of the conductor — or, rather, the director — is to weave and build the sound to maximum dramatic effect. Led by Brian Cox (“ Succession ”) and Patricia Clarkson , Jeremy Herrin’s West End cast of soloists is definitely strong. Overall, however, his production doesn’t fully sustain the tricky balancing act.

Given the terrifying and delicious ease he deployed as vicious Logan Roy in “Succession,” Cox makes complete casting sense as tyrannical, self-serving James. At 77, he is a trifle old for the role, which latterly strains credulity when it comes to the physical relationship between him and his sons. But as his bravura final scene demonstrates, he is a commanding presence.

Descending, through drink and exhaustion, to the state that is the closest he ever gets to insight about his controlling, miserly failure with his family, Cox is in fine form in this scene. Furious at the truth-telling of his combative younger son Edmund (Laurie Kynaston) he allows us to see a man just about able — for brief moments only — to glimpse the truth of his own responsibility in the terrible family psychodrama.

But the slow-burn arc of the role isn’t quite within his grasp. His opening scene is pitched too high: The family is self-consciously acting happy now that matriarch Mary (Patricia Clarkson) is home and sober, but Cox’s overly-signaled brightness militates against audience engagement.

The consumption killing Kynaston’s nicely considered Edmund is, mercifully, underplayed. He gently indicates sadness without overstating it and in the final showdown with his father, his self-possession works in balance to his father’s chaos. But elsewhere, like most of the characters in this production except Louisa Harland’s beautifully judged, knowing maid, he seems too isolated, as if playing the end of the play from the beginning.

Neurasthenic, fluttering and fragile, Clarkson’s Mary positively glides through the day of the play with a sweetness that beautifully belies her pain within. Her level of denial is so absolute that she is able to maintain dignity throughout, no matter how upsettingly empty her illusions are.

Herrin knows about secrets and lies in dramas of addiction, having directed Duncan MacMillan’s scorching, award-winning “People, Places, Things.” Here, his pacing of Clarkson’s performance is the strongest line through this production. His handling of her final moments, ultimately placing her calmly sitting on the edge of the stage, is masterly.

Elsewhere, not all of his choices are helpful to so drawn-out a text. Lizzie Clachan’s self-consciously bald, wooden set over-emphasizes the lack of money that James gives to the running of a household. More of a statement than a helpful design, it leaves the creation of atmosphere to the actors and the lighting. Even a lighting designer as skilled as Jack Knowles struggles with the demand.

In a play that goes to some length to point out the intrusive sound of fog horns, it seems antithetical to have so noticeable an additional soundscape that loudly alerts the audience to approaching doom, or to the ethereal quality of Mary’s blissed-out-on-morphine state. This soundscape fires up some moments but flattens out the following scenes. The irony of this is that in so notoriously wordy a play, it’s absence and, crucially, silence which have proved so lethal in their lives.

The cumulative power of a still horribly recognizable journey through desperate, misplaced hope has ensured the longevity of O’Neill’s drama. Despite the unevenness of this production, Clarkson’s tender glow keeps it alive.

Wyndham’s Theatre, London; 780 seats; top £95 ($119), top premium £195 ($245). Opened, reviewed, Apr. 2, 2024; closing Jun 8. Running time: 3 HOURS, 30 MINS.

• Production: A Second Half Productions presentation of a play in two acts by Eugene O’Neill.
• Crew: Directed by Jeremy Herrin. Sets and costumes, Lizzie Clachan; lighting, Jack Knowles; music and sound, Tom Gibbons; movement, Polly Bennett, production stage manager, Laura Draper.
• Cast: Brian Cox, Patricia Clarkson, Laurie Kynaston, Daryl McCormack, Louisa Harland.

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