Bob James

Robert McElhiney James (born December 25, 1939) is an American jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the band Fourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV show Taxi. According to VICE, music from his first seven albums has often been sampled and believed to have contributed to the formation of hip hop. Among his most well known recordings are "Nautilus", "Westchester Lady", "Tappan Zee", and his version of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".

Early life and family James was born on Christmas Day of 1939 in Marshall, Missouri, United States. 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 somewhat free jazz exploration that was produced by Quincy Jones and that differed from the smooth jazz for which he would later become known. Among the songs on the album was "Angela", the theme song for the TV show Taxi. James provided all the music for Taxi and collected some of its music, including "Angela", on The Genie: Themes & Variations from the TV Series Taxi (Columbia/CBS, 1983). When he toured in 1979, he was supported by a marketing campaign that included posters of him at the wheel of a New York yellow cab. The performances were documented on the album All Around the Town (Tappan Zee/Columbia/CBS, 1980), with a cover of James at the wheel of a taxi.

James turned from smooth jazz to classical music to record Rameau (CVS Masterworks, 1984), his interpretations of Baroque-period composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. In later albums, he interpreted the work of two more Baroque composers, J. S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti.

A year after Rameau, he moved to Warner Bros. Records and collaborated with David Sanborn on Double Vision (Warner Bros., 1986); the album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. He would record albums for Warner Bros. (which also reissued Bob James' CTI and Tappan Zee/Columbia back catalog in the mid-1990s) for the next seventeen years. His collaboration with Earl Klugh, One on One, won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1980 and has sold over one million copies. Another collaboration with Klugh, Cool, (Warner Bros., 1992) was nominated for a Grammy, as was Joined at the Hip (Warner Bros., 1996) with Kirk Whalum. He also recorded Flesh and Bone in 1995 with his daughter, Hillary James, and another solo album, Joy Ride (Warner Bros., 1999). Joined at the Hip was reissued with a 2019 Remaster on evosound.

Fourplay James was looking for a bass player while recording the album Grand Piano Canyon (Warner Bros., 1990) with drummer Harvey Mason and guitarist Lee Ritenour. Mason and Ritenour suggested Nathan East. After working with them for a while, James suggested they form a band, which resulted in the contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay. The band recorded over ten albums and saw a couple of personnel changes, with guitarist Larry Carlton replacing Ritenour and then Chuck Loeb replacing Carlton.

Influence in hip hop James's music, especially his early albums, has been sampled often, with his songs "Nautilus" and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" leading the field.

Selected songs that use James’s music

"Nautilus" was sampled by Eric B. & Rakim in "Let the Rhythm Hit 'em", Run-D.M.C.'s "Beats to the Rhyme", Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500", DJ Jazzy Jeff's "Jazzie's Groove", Jeru the Damaja's "My Mind Spray", Freddie Gibbs's "Extradite", and "Farandole (L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2)". It appears on the Funcrusher Plus LP from Company Flow and Nangdo's "Nikes". The bassline from "Nautilus" appears in "Children's Story" by Slick Rick.

"Take Me to the Mardi Gras" incorporates in its first four measures a bell-and-drum pattern that is one of hip hop's basic break beats. It was sampled by Crash Crew's "Breaking Bells (Take Me to the Mardi Gras)", Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper", the Beastie Boys' "Hold it Now, Hit it", Missy Elliott's "Work It", will.i.am's "I Got it from My Mama", "This Is Me (Urban Remix)" by Dream, "I Want You" by Common, and "Take It Back" by Wu-Tang Clan.

"Westchester Lady" was sampled by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in "Here We Go Again", as well as by DJ T-Rock and Squashy Nice in their song "Evolution".

James's 1981 song "Sign of the Times" was sampled by De La Soul in its 1991 single "Keepin' the Faith" from the album De La Soul is Dead and Warren G and Nate Dogg as par of their 1994 single "Regulate".

His 1980 song "Snowbird Fantasy" was sampled by French house musician and Le Knight Club member Eric Chedeville, also Known as Rico the Wizard, as part of his 2009 single "Spell of Love", which was remixed later by DJ Sneak.

The track "Tappan Zee", named after the bridge over a wide section of the Hudson River that James regularly crossed on his way to the studio, was sampled as part of Arrested Development's "People Everyday (Metamorphis Remix)".

Digable Planets song “Jettin’” contains a sample from the song "Blue Lick".

In the past, James has stated that he had "a lot of respect" for the creative process of hip hop production, only being unhappy when his music was plagiarized or illegally sampled. James has begun to sample his own music, as shown on the composition "Submarine". He has also been collaborating in recent years with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ghostface Killah, 9th Wonder, and Slick Rick.

Awards and honors Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, with Earl Klugh, One on One (1979) Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental, with David Sanborn, Double Vision (1986) Grammy nomination, Cool with Earl Klugh (1992) Grammy nomination, Joined at the Hip with Kirk Whalum (1996) Grammy nomination, Joyride (1999) George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental, "Fortune Teller" by Fourplay (2008) International Achievement Award, State of Michigan (2008) Best Group of the Year nomination, American Smooth Jazz Awards, Fourplay (2010) Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, "Ghost of a Chance" (2016) Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, "Just Us".

Discography The discography of Bob James includes 53 albums. Studio albums Year Album Peak chart positions LabelUS200 USTopSales USJazz USCon.Jazz USR&B/HH USTradJazz USTopCur USInd USIndieStore USVinyl 1963 Bold Conceptions — — — — — — — — — — Mercury 1965 Explosions — — — — — — — — — — ESP Disk 1974 One 85 — — — 48 — — — — — CTI 1975 Two 75 — — — 28 — — — — — 1976 Three 49 — — — 23 — — — — — 1977 BJ4 38 — — — 33 — — — — — Heads 47 — — — — — — — — — Tappan Zee/Columbia 1978 Touchdown 37 — — — — — — — — — 1979 Lucky Seven 42 — — — — — — — — — One on One 23 — — — 26 — — — — — 1980 H 47 — — — — — — — — — 1981 Sign of the Times 56 — — — 27 — — — — — 1982 Hands Down 72 — — — — — — — — — Two of a Kind — — — — — 37 — — — — Capitol 1983 The Genie: Themes & Variations from the TV Series "Taxi" – ("Angela") 77 — — — 43 47 — — — — Tappan Zee/Columbia Foxie 106 — — — 45 3 108 — — — 1984 Rameau — — — — — — — — — — CBS Masterworks 12 136 — — — 67 5 136 — — — Tappan Zee/Columbia The Swan — — — — — — — — — — Tappan Zee/CBS/Sony [JPN] 1986 Double Vision — — — — — — — — — — Warner Bros. Obsession 142 — — 8 49 3 142 — — — 1988 The Scarlatti Dialogues — — — — — — — — — — CBS Masterworks Ivory Coast 196 — — 4 99 — 196 — — — Warner Bros. 1989 Concertos for Two & Three Keyboards — — — — — — — — — — CBS Masterworks 1990 Grand Piano Canyon — — — 4 — — — — — — Warner Bros. 1992 Cool 170 170 — 1 88 — 170 — — — 1994 Restless 168 168 4 4 — — 168 — — — 1995 Flesh and Blood — — — — — — — — — — 1996 Straight Up – — — 20 — — 6 — — — — Joined at the Hip — — 11 10 — — — — — — 1997 Playin' Hooky — — 5 4 — — — — — — 1999 Joy Ride — — 10 7 — — — — — — 2001 Dancing on the Water — — 22 — — 12 — — — — 2002 Morning, Noon & Night — — 14 10 — — — — — — 2004 Portrait of Bill Evans – [2 tracks] — — — — — — — — — — JVC Take It from the Top – — — 46 — — 17 — — — — Koch 2006 Urban Flamingo — — 18 7 — — — — — — 2007 Angels of Shanghai — — 24 10 — — — — — — Ataraxis — — — — — — — — — — 2008 Christmas Eyes — — — — — — — — — — 2009 Botero — — — — — — — — — — VideoArts [JPN] 2011 Just Friends — — — — — — — — — — BJHP Music Altair & Vega — — 17 7 — — — — — — eOne Music 2013 Quartette Humaine — — 5 — — 2 — — — — OKeh/Sony Masterworks Alone: Kaleidoscope by Solo Piano — — — — — — — — — — Red River 2015 The New Cool — — 5 2 — — — — — — Yamaha Live at Milliken Auditorium — — — — — — — — — — Tappan Zee 2017 In the Chapel In the Moonlight — — — — — — — — — — 2018 Espresso – — — 2 — — 2 — 46 — — Evosound 2020 Once Upon a Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions — — 8 — — 6 71 — — — Resonance On Vacation — — — — — — — — — — Sony Masterworks Stonebone — 37 6 1 — — 31 — 11 15 A&M/CTI 2022 Feel Like Making Live! – — — — 14 — — — — — — Evosound 2023 Jazz Hands — — — — — — — — — — 2025 Just Us — — — 7 — — — — — — Just Koz"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Live albums Year Album Peak chart positions LabelUS200 1981 All Around the Town – (live double-album) 66 Tappan Zee/Columbia

Compilation albums Year Album Label 2001 Anthology Castle 2001 Restoration Warner Bros. 2002 The Essential Jazz Collection Metro Doubles 2003 Bob James in Hi Fi Audio Fidelity 2009 The Very Best of Bob James Salvo

Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album Hot100 Hot R&B/Hip-HopSongs R&B/Hip-HopAirplay Smooth JazzAirplay Adult R&BAirplay 1974 "Night on Bald Mountain" — — — One "In the Garden" — — — "Feel Like Making Love" 88 — — 1975 "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" 105 — — Two 1976 "Westchester Lady" — — — Three 1977 "Where the Wind Blows Free" — — — BJ4 "Heads" — — — Heads 1978 "Night Crawler" — — — "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" – — — — Two 1979 "Theme from Taxi (Angela)" — — — Touchdown "Touchdown" — — — "Friends" — — — Lucky Seven "Kari" — — — One on One "Main Theme from Star Trek – The Motion Picture" — — — 1980 "Snowbird Fantasy" — — — H "Sparkling New York" – — — — H – 1981 "Sign of the Times" — — — Sign of the Times "The Steamin' Feelin' " — — — 1982 "Spunky" — — — Hands Down "Whiplash" — — — Two of a Kind "Shepherds Song (from Haute-Auvergne) – — — — Reflections – 1983 "Marco Polo" – — — — Foxie 1984 "Courtship" — — — 12 1986 "Maputo" — — — Double Vision 1987 "Rousseau" — — — Obsession "3 A.M." — — — 1988 "Ashanti" — — — Ivory Coast 1998 "Do It Again" — — — 35 Playin' Hooky "I'm Only Human" — 57 42 10 Luther Vandross – I Know 2012 "Backstage Pass" — — — 1 — Paul Brown – The Funky Joint 2013 "Deep in the Weeds" — — — 1 — Quartette Humaine 2015 "Sign of the Times" — — — — 17 CeeLo – Heart Blanche 2018 "Submarine" — — — 4 — Espresso 2019 "Topside" — — — 1 — 2020 "Nautilus" (remix) / "Submarine" (remix) — — — — — 2021 "Hope for Tomorrow" — — — 15 — Tom Braxton – Lookin' Up "Hispanica" — — — 1 — Christian de Mesones – They Call Me Big New York 2023 "The Secret Drawer" — — — 4 — Jazz Hands 2025 "New Hope" — — — 17 — Just Us"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

With Fourplay Fourplay (Warner Bros., 1991) – rec. 1990–91 Between the Sheets (Warner Bros., 1993) Elixir (Warner Bros., 1995) 4 (Warner Bros., 1998) Snowbound (Warner Bros., 1999) Yes, Please! (Warner Bros., 2000) Heartfelt (Bluebird/RCA Victor/BMG, 2002) Journey (Bluebird/RCA Victor/BMG, 2004) X (Bluebird/RCA Victor/BMG, 2006) Energy (Heads Up, 2008) Let's Touch the Sky (Heads Up, 2010) Esprit De Four (Heads Up, 2012) Silver (Heads Up, 2015)

As sideman

With Patti Austin Every Home Should Have One (Qwest, 1981) That Secret Place (GRP, 1994)

With Chet Baker Baby Breeze (Limelight, 1964) I/We Had a Ball (Limelight, 1965) – rec. 1964–65 She Was Too Good to Me (CTI, 1974) Carnegie Hall Concert (CTI, 1975) – live rec. 1974

With George Benson The Other Side of Abbey Road (A&M, 1970) Love Remembers (Warner Bros., 1993)

With Alessandro Bertozzi Talkin'back (Level49, 2003)

With Ron Carter Blues Farm (CTI, 1973) Empire Jazz (RSO, 1980)

With Hank Crawford We Got a Good Thing Going (Kudu, 1972) Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing (Kudu, 1974)

With Maynard Ferguson Primal Scream (Columbia, 1976) Conquistador (Columbia, 1977)

With Michael Franks Abandoned Garden (Warner Bros., 1995) Barefoot on the Beach (Windham Hill, 1999)

With Eric Gale Forecast (Kudu, 1973) Ginseng Woman (Columbia, 1977) Multiplication (Columbia, 1977) Island Breeze (Elektra Musician, 1983)

With Jeff Golub and Avenue Blue Naked City (Bluemoon Mesa, 1996) Nightlife (Bluemoon Mesa, 1997)

With Quincy Jones Walking in Space (A&M, 1969) Gula Matari (A&M, 1970) Smackwater Jack (A&M, 1971) You've Got It Bad Girl (A&M, 1973) Body Heat (A&M, 1974) I Heard That!! (A&M, 1976)[2LP] – rec. 1969–76

With Hubert Laws Crying Song (CTI, 1969) Afro-Classic (CTI, 1970) Morning Star (CTI, 1972) The Rite of Spring (CTI, 1972) Carnegie Hall (CTI, 1973) In the Beginning (CTI, 1974) Then There Was Light (CTI, 1974) The Chicago Theme (CTI, 1975) Romeo & Juliet (Columbia, 1976) The San Francisco Concert (CTI, 1977)

With Harvey Mason Funk in a Mason Jar (Arista, 1977) Groovin' You (Arista, 1979) Stone Mason (Alfa, 1982) Ratamacue (Atlantic, 1996) Chameleon (Columbia, 2014)

With Ralph MacDonald Sound of a Drum (Marlin, 1976) The Path (Marlin, 1978)

With Idris Muhammad Power of Soul (Kudu, 1974) My Turn (Lipstick, 1991)

With Doc Powell Inner City Blues (101 South, 1995) Life Changes (Gold Circle, 2001)

With Lee Ritenour Festival (GRP, 1988) Wes Bound (GRP, 1993) This Is Love (i.e. Music/Polygram, 1998)

With Gabor Szabo Mizrab (CTI, 1973) Rambler (CTI, 1974) Macho (Salvation, 1975)

With Stanley Turrentine Cherry (CTI, 1972) Don't Mess with Mister T. (CTI, 1973) The Baddest Turrentine (CTI, 1973) The Sugar Man (CTI, 1979)

With Grover Washington Jr. Inner City Blues (Kudu, 1971) All the King's Horses (Kudu, 1972) Soul Box (Kudu, 1973) Feels So Good (Kudu, 1975) Mister Magic (Kudu, 1975)

With Kirk Whalum Floppy Disk (Tappan Zee/Columbia, 1985) And You Know That (Columbia, 1988) The Promise (Columbia, 1989) Caché (Columbia, 1993)

With John Zorn The Big Gundown (Nonesuch, 1986) Cobra (Hat Hut, 1987) Spillane (Nonesuch, 1987)

With others Amerie, Because I Love It (Columbia, 2007) Randy Bernsen, Music for Planets, People & Washing Machines (Zebra/MCA, 1985) Blood, Sweat & Tears, More Than Ever (Columbia, 1976) Chris Botti, Slowing Down the World (GRP, 1999) Eddie Brigati, Lost in the Wilderness (Elektra, 1976) Gary Burton, Cool Nights (GRP, 1991) Karen Carpenter, Karen Carpenter (A&M, 1996) – rec. 1979–80 The Carpenters, Lovelines (A&M, 1989) – rec. 1978–80 David Chesky, Rush Hour (Columbia, 1980) Merry Clayton, Keep Your Eye On the Sparrow (Ode, 1975) Natalie Cole, Stardust (Elektra, 1996) Eddie Daniels, Beautiful Love (Shanachie, 1997) Eumir Deodato & Airto Moreira, In Concert (CTI, 1974) Paul Desmond, Skylark (CTI, 1974) Neil Diamond, Beautiful Noise (Columbia, 1976) Eric Dolphy, Other Aspects (Blue Note, 1987) Nathan East, Nathan East (Yamaha, 2014) Bill Evans, Push (Lipstick, 1994) Fania All-Stars, Rhythm Machine (Fania, 1977) Sam Franz, 2080 (Eight Islands, 2022) Roberta Flack, Feel Like Makin' Love (Atlantic, 1975) Aretha Franklin, Let Me in Your Life (Atlantic, 1974) Russ Freeman, Holiday (GRP, 1995) Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Higher Ground (Kudu, 1974) Terumasa Hino, Daydream (Flying Disk, 1980) Freddie Hubbard, Windjammer (Columbia, 1976) Jackie and Roy, Time & Love (CTI, 1972) Boney James & Rick Braun, Shake It Up (Warner Bros., 2000) Jazz Corners All Stars feat. Bob James (GMM Grammy, 2010) J. J. Johnson & Kai Winding, Stonebone (A&M, 1970) Steve Khan, Tightrope (Tappan Zee/Columbia, 1977) Steve Khan, The Blue Man (Tappan Zee/Columbia, 1978) Morgana King, New Beginnings (Paramount, 1973) Dave Koz, A New Day (Just Koz Entertainment, 2020) Chuck Loeb, The Moon, the Stars and the Setting Sun (Shanachie, 1998) Kenny Loggins, Celebrate Me Home (Columbia, 1977) Kevin Mahogany, My Romance (Warner Bros., 1998) Keiko Matsui, Whisper from the Mirror (Countdown/Unity, 2000) Amanda McBroom, Midnight Matinee (Analogue, 1991) Gene McDaniels, Natural Juices (Ode, 1975) Michael McDonald, Motown (Motown, 2003) Dave McMurray, Peace of Mind (Hip Bop, 1999) Melba Moore, Peach Melba (Buddah, 1975) Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker, Carnegie Hall Concert (CTI, 1975) Esther Phillips, Performance (Kudu, 1974) The Rippingtons, Life in the Tropics (Peak, 2000) Luis Salinas, Rosario (Universal, 2001) Mongo Santamaria, Red Hot (Tappan Zee/Columbia, 1979) Marilyn Scott, Take Me with You (Warner Bros., 1996) Tom Scott, New York Connection (Ode, 1975) Don Sebesky, Giant Box (CTI, 1973) Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon (Columbia, 1973) Paul Simon, Still Crazy After All These Years (Columbia, 1975) Frank Sinatra, L.A. Is My Lady (Qwest/WB, 1984) Phoebe Snow, Phoebe Snow (Shelter, 1974) Chris Standring, Sunlight (Ultimate Vibe, 2018) Wayman Tisdale, Way Up! (Platinum/Rendezvous 2007) John Tropea, Something Old New Borrowed and Blues (VideoArts [jp], 1999) Phil Upchurch, Upchurch/Tennyson (Kudu, 1975) Luther Vandross, I Know (Virgin, 1998) Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 1: Night Song (Mercury, 1964) Dionne Warwick, Friends Can Be Lovers (Arista, 1993) Peter White, Playin' Favorites (Columbia, 2006) – live Alexander Zonjic, Romance with You (Inner City, 1988)

Filmography 2005 Live at Montreux 2005 Bob James: An Evening of Fourplay Vol 1 & 2 2006 Bob James Live