Bob James

Early Career and Discovery by Quincy Jones

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.

Albums and Collaborations

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.

Influence on Smooth Jazz and Hip Hop

James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz; however, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop music, having been sampled often. Two of James's 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.

Notable Samples in Hip Hop

• 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 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.

Event Information

Dinner or two-drink minimum required in addition to the tickets, plus a $0.49 music royalty fee per patron. Doors open for dinner 1 1/2 hour before the first show and 1/2 hour before the second show if there is a second show. Except for Private Events. Ticket sales are final. Catalina's Management