Boney James

Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist, recording artist, songwriter and record producer.

He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 and Best Traditional R&B Performance, 2009) and a Soul Train Award winner (Best Jazz Album 1998). He has also received three NAACP Image Award nominations for Best Jazz Album. James has sold over four million albums, and has accumulated four RIAA Certified Gold Records. In 2009, Billboard magazine named James one of the Top 3 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Decade. In 2024 James became the first artist to notch 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard magazine SJ Chart.

Biography Born in Lowell Massachusetts, James took up the clarinet at the age of eight, switching to sax when he was ten. James spent his early teen years in New Rochelle, New York. He became musically influenced by the R&B Motown genre and saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. When he was fourteen his family moved to Los Angeles, where he joined a fusion band that opened for acts like Flora Purim and the Yellowjackets. Another member of this early band was John Shanks, now a successful pop producer and guitarist with Bon Jovi. James eventually received a degree in history from UCLA, but began playing music full-time after graduation. James learned to play keyboards and in 1985 he joined Morris Day's band. His R&B influence was further strengthened by seven years of touring and sessions as a sideman with Day, The Isley Brothers, Bobby Caldwell, Randy Crawford, Teena Marie and others. It was on the road with Crawford in 1986 that he earned his now-famous moniker, when his physique led a bandmate to joke "We'll have to start calling you 'Boney' James!"

In the early 1990s, while on tour with Bobby Caldwell's band, he met engineer and producer Paul Brown, beginning a 10-year period of collaboration. In 1992 he released his debut album as a leader, Trust, on the independent record label Spindletop Records. Following the record's success, he was signed by the Warner Brothers label in 1994, on which he released the RIAA Certified Gold Records Seduction, Sweet Thing and Body Language albums.

In 2000 he collaborated with trumpeter Rick Braun on an album called Shake it Up. Their duets include the now classic updated version of Hugh Masakela's "Grazin' in the Grass". Other artists who have made guest appearances on Boney's records include October London, Lalah Hathaway, Raheem DeVaughn, Faith Evans, George Benson, George Duke, Dwele, Al Jarreau, Philip Bailey, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, Eric Benét, Dave Hollister, Stokley Williams, Avery*Sunshine, Kenny Lattimore and Angie Stone.

James began co-producing his records with Brown in 1997, and assumed the role of sole producer starting with his Grammy-nominated Pure album in 2003. Following a string of chart-topping albums, in 2006 James moved to Concord Records

In 2014, he produced two songs on Al Jarreau's George Duke tribute album My Old Friend, "No Rhyme No Reason" (feat. Kelly Price) and "Bring Me Joy" (feat. George Duke).

In 2015, he released futuresoul which spent eleven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and was the best selling Contemporary Jazz Record of 2015. In August 2015, James made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

2017 saw the release of Honestly, his sixteenth album, which became his eleventh No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. It also reached No. 22 on the Billboard Current Albums Chart, his highest pop chart debut to date.

June 2020 he released his seventeenth studio album Solid, describing it as "a reaction to how stressful the world feels these days. Music is a respite, it’s always ‘solid’ and never lets me down." The CD broke his previous Pop Chart record, debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart. His eighteenth album Detour was released on September 23, 2022.

Personal life James is married to actress and director Lily Mariye and in 2012 he contributed an original score to her directorial feature film debut, Model Minority.

Discography Studio albums Year Album Label 1992 Trust Spindletop 1994 Backbone Warner Bros. 1995 Seduction 1997 Sweet Thing 1999 Body Language 2001 Ride 2004 Pure 2006 Shine Concord 2009 Send One Your Love 2011 Contact Verve 2013 The Beat Concord 2015 Futuresoul 2017 Honestly 2020 Solid 2022 Detour 2024 Slow Burn 2026 A Simple Man

Collaboration albums Year Album Label 2000 Shake It Up – Warner Bros.

Holiday albums Year Album Label 1996 Boney's Funky Christmas Warner Bros. 2007 Christmas Present Concord 2025 'Tis the Season

Score contributions Year Album Label 2000 The Shangri-la Café Nice Girl 2012 Model Minority

Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album Smooth JazzAirplay Adult R&BAirplay pkwks 2005 "2:01 A.M." 121 — Pure 2006 "The Total Experience" 14 — Shine 2007 "Hypnotic" 13 — 2008 "Skating" 271 — Christmas Present "The First Noel" 291 — "Let It Go" 13 — Shine "The Way She Walks" 174 — 2009 "Stop, Look, Listen" 18 — Send One Your Love "Send One Your Love" 52 — 2010 "Touch" 61 — "I'll Be Good to You" 301 — 2011 "Contact" 15 — Contact "Spin" 14 — 2012 "Cry" 21 — "Deep Time" 101 — 2013 "Batucada (The Beat)" 18 — The Beat "Powerhouse" 12 — 2014 "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" 21 — "Sunset Boulevard" 44 — 2015 "Drumline" 16 — Futuresoul "Vinyl" 12 — 2016 "A Little Attitude" 11 — "Futuresoul" 141 — 2017 "Tick Tock" 14 — Honestly 2018 "On the Prowl" 13 — "Up All Night" 14 — 2019 "Kicks" 151 — 2020 "Solid" 11 — Solid "Full Effect" 12 — 2021 "Tonic" 121 — "Sundance" 11 — 2022 "Bring It Back" 11 — Detour "Coastin — 171 2023 "Detour" 63 — "Memphis" 21 — 2024 "All I Want Is You" 232 — Slow Burn "Slide" 13 — 2025 "Sugar" 21 — "The Bounce" 11 — 2026 "I Belong to You" A Simple Man — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Collaborations Year Artist Title Peak chart positions Album Label Smooth JazzAirplay Adult R&BAirplay pkwks 2012 Jonathan Fritzén "Magical" 13 — Magical Nordic Night 2014 Al Jarreau (featuring George Duke) "Bring Me Joy" 51 — My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke Concord 2018 Brian Simpson "Persuasion" 231 — Persuasion Shanachie 2019 Peabo Bryson "Looking for Sade" 271 — Stand for Love Perspective 2024 Big Mike Hart "Cigar Lounge" 13 — Modern Classic Rhythm Section "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.