Bob James Interview Page 4

BJ:  Well, I’m so happy to be able to showcase them because the audiences where I perform with these guys are always impressed in that same kind of way, and they’re so talented.  My only regret with young performers like that who are obviously on their way up is that it almost always reaches that point where I get ready to go out and do my next tour and they’re so busy that I can’t get ‘em anymore.

Smitty:  [Laughs.]

BJ:  So I try to take advantage of their skills and friendship and everything for as long as I can because I know we’re all at that mercy of the freelance nature of our business and I’m happy for their success, but it’s bittersweet because it means that I’m gonna have to try that much harder to get ‘em the next time around.

Smitty:  Yeah, that’s the way it happens. “Skidaway,” I thought that was sort of a different feel from the rest of the record. Talk to me about the arrangements for this song.

BJ:  Oh boy, I don’t know.  Sometimes it’s really hard to put into words….these instrumental things, that they come from somewhere up there in the mystery of inspiration. I know that the feeling of the way Perry Hughes plays, which is a very, oh, I’ll use the word “shuffle” kind of swing groove that’s a retro kind of feeling that conjures up a lot of things from the past eras of jazz when the grooves were slightly different. It’s hard to put your finger on it exactly, but I knew I wanted to showcase Perry and the way that he plays that’s….as I mentioned before, that there’s an influence from Eric Gale, but there’s also an influence from a particular kind of swing shuffle kind of feeling that I wanted to recreate with that tune.

Smitty:  It’s a great tune.  And I must say the one that I hear a lot and have just fallen in love with is “Lay Down With You.”  That is just….and Hilary [James] has a great voice.

BJ:  Well, of course I’m very happy to hear you say that, being a proud father.

Smitty:  Congratulations my friend!

BJ:  Thank you! But having known that for many years and to have so much sentimental feeling about the memory of the project that we did together called Flesh & Blood some years ago, Hilary has kind of shifted away from being in the music business full-time, partially because she didn’t really love the strain of the full-time aspect of it, but even more significantly to me, she became very busy being a mom having delivered to us our first and only grandchild, our granddaughter Ava Marie, who’s now four and a half years old, and so Hilary’s been pretty busy in the mom category and I’m not sure if and when she’s going to want to go back into the hard, tough business world of music, but at least she still loves singing and I was delighted to have her guest on that song, which she co-wrote with her husband Kevin [DiSimone].

Smitty:  Wow, you know, Bob, her voice could cross over any genre.

BJ:  That’s what I feel too, and she’s so well versed in so many areas of music, I think it shows through in the style in which she sings.

Smitty:  Yes.

BJ:  She studied musical theater, she obviously has a very strong background and knowledge about jazz and its history as a result of our family and our interests, and she kinda doesn’t need to be categorized too much because she’s stayed a little bit one step removed from the commercial part of the firing line in the music business, so she just sings what she feels and that’s what I love about it. It comes out natural and spontaneous.

Smitty:  Yes.  Now, I’ve gotta ask you, Bob, have you guys set Ava Marie in front of the piano yet?  [Both laughing.]

BJ:  We have.  As a matter of fact, she just sent me a tape that they made of “Happy Birthday” to my sister who just celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and they sent their greetings out from Ohio, where they live, and of course it includes Ava Marie singing “Happy Birthday” on it. I heard this MP3 file via e-mail when I was over in Singapore and it was great, who knows what twists and turns that she’s going to take being just four years old.  I’m not sure whether she’ll gravitate to the piano or not, she has so many different interests, but it’s really fun watching it as a grandparent.

Smitty:  That’s totally cool.  Your new record Urban Flamingo was released about three weeks ago?

BJ:  Yes it was released three weeks ago, I believe it was.

Smitty:  Three weeks ago, yeah.  So it’s on the street.  This is a great record for any collection.  I mean, I hope I don’t miss anyone on this record; Earl Klugh; Hilary, your daughter; Wayne Gerard, Dave McMurray; Ron Otis; Al Turner; Nathan East; Perry Hughes; what a lineup.  I mean, this is like one of those jammin’ all star groups, you know?

BJ:  Well, it really is a cross-section of a lot of my favorite people, musicians that I’ve been associated with for a long time. I should also mention that I managed to squeeze in one cut with my favorite trio rhythm section that I had just made my previous Take It From the Top album with Billy Kilson on drums and James Genus on bass, and even though they weren’t around to be able to participate on a lot of the tunes, I got the one very funky tune that they played on [“Niles A Head”], which I’m happy for that.

Smitty:  Yes.  I’m not even going ask you to name a favorite album.  Forget it.  They’re all special projects

BJ:  Well, you know, Smitty, somebody else put it so well that….and I know that I feel the same way….it’s like if you have a bunch of children and someone asks you who is your favorite child, it’s an impossible question to answer. You can’t because you love them all equally, and these recordings do feel like children to me, like you go through birth pains when you’re making them and you feel like that they all deserve a life of their own, and very often I have found, too, that things that sort of didn’t pop out as being the most successful when they were first made sometimes turn out to have a life of their own much later, when the right people hear them at the right time or whatever that fate is, so I really like to avoid being the person to judge any of that stuff.  I think it’s out of my hands at that point and it’s really in the audience’s hands.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.  Well, I rank Urban Flamingo right up there with the rest of them, I will tell you that much.

BJ:  Well, I sure do appreciate that. That makes me feel real good.

Smitty:  And I must thank you for one thing, “Westchester Lady,” because that was the first ever jazz tune I’ve ever heard.

BJ:  Wow.

Smitty:  Yeah.

BJ:  Well, I’m glad that you stayed with the genre.

Smitty:  Yes.

BJ:  And I’m glad that “Westchester Lady” was a catalyst.  It certainly is an old friend for me and I still end up playing it almost every time I play a live performance.

Smitty:  Absolutely. Bob, you’ve just added another masterpiece to your brilliant collection, it’s distributed through the Koch label and they’ve done an excellent job getting it out there and they’re to be commended for that, and thank you so much for another great record. It comes highly recommended!

BJ:  Well, Smitty, thank you very much for the interview and the nice conversation. I’m so happy that you like the new record and hope I’ll be able to keep providing ‘em for you in the future.

Smitty:  Please do, my friend. Bob thanks again my friend, and we must do this again.

BJ:  I hope that we will many times in the future.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.bobjames.com and www.kochrecords.com.