This keyboardist was putting the "smooth" into "jazz" long before there was a format by that name. Since the mid-70s,
Bob James has been one of instrumental music's most consistent purveyors of tunes that hover in the gray area between lighthearted pop and more sophisticated jazz textures.
James' approach here is a little like his contribution to the supergroup
Fourplay -- rather than dominate, he's content to jam and be one of the guys. Though his solos stand out, it's almost as if he's a hired gun on a project featuring the best and brightest of this second generation of smooth jazzers. He's farmed out the production tasks to some top studio guys (including musician/artists
Paul Brown,
Chuck Loeb,
Michael Colina, and
David McMurray. On the lively, shuffling
"Take Me There," he bounces around joyously over
Loeb's crisp guitar lines and
Kim Waters' smart mix of soprano and alto saxes.
"Raise the Roof" features
James jazzing it up as saxman
Boney James (no relation) harmonizes with a soulfully simmering sax line.
"Strollin'" finds
Chris Botti's trumpet strutting around like an overachieving jazz student eager to impress professor
Miles Davis, while
Jonathan Butler's breezy acoustic touch spruces up the elegant funk of
"Trade Winds" and
"Bisso Baba." A little touch of
Fourplay is hard to miss too, as
Harvey Mason checks in occasionally on drums,
Nathan East plays bass on a few cuts, and former guitarist
Lee Ritenour jams on the title track. ~ Jonathan Widran
![Greatest Hits [MCA]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0008817033426_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Greatest Hits [MCA]")