Denver Jazz Fest Presents: An Evening with Bob James

“… Bob James is to jazz what James Brown is to R&B — the music and the musicians go hand in hand.” —NPR

Since he was discovered by Quincy Jones, James has had a long and storied career. He honed his skills working with Creed Taylor on CTI albums for artists like Hank Crawford, Art Farmer, Steve Gadd, Hubert Laws and Grover Washington, Jr. before recording upwards of 50 albums under his own name including several for Tappan Zee Records, the label he created.

An indefatigable musical pioneer, James became a household figure through his timeless television themes including Taxi. The Grammy Award winning record producer founded the multi-platinum band Four Play, and was recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz; his collaboration with David Sanborn yielded the classic Double Vision in 1986. According to Vice, music from his first seven albums has often been sampled, and is widely believed to have contributed to the sound of hip-hop. It’s no surprise that James has gone on to be among the most sampled artists in hip hop history.

His Grammy-winning music is the very definition of groove jazz, and for this intimate evening of acoustic and contemporary jazz, Bob James brings an international quartet including the Ukrainian saxophonist Andry Chmut. The celebrated keyboardist, arranger, and composer to the stars has not performed as a leader in Denver in eons.

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