Twisted Tales: EZ-Listening Jazz Pianist Bob James Is True Godfather of Hip-Hop

Posted on Mar 5th 2010 5:00PM by James Sullivan
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His music has been sampled by Eric B. & Rakim, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, Gang Starr, Ghostface Killah and dozens of other hip-hop artists. With such a long list of admirers, he is sometimes referred to as the "fifth element of hip-hop."

James Brown? George Clinton? Try easy-listening keyboardist Bob James, recipient of a Lifetime Achievement honor from the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. The 70-year-old James, who was discovered by a young Quincy Jones playing bebop at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, is credited with some of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history.

Born on Christmas Day, 1939, James has been an unlikely gift to the hip-hop world. Though he's probably best known as the composer of 'Angela,' the treacly theme to the late '70s-early '80s TV sitcom 'Taxi,' that song has been sampled only sparingly. Far more influential are 'Nautilus,' a light-funk instrumental workout from 1974, which was the basis for Slick Rick's 'Children's Story' and features prominently on Eric B. & Rakim's 'Follow the Leader,' Run-DMC's 'Beats to the Rhyme' and dozens of other tracks, and 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras,' a Paul Simon original that, in James's version, shows up in the music of dozens more, ranging from Ice Cube to Timbaland.

James, a founding member of the long-running smooth-jazz "supergroup" Fourplay, has been a routine Grammy nominee and has collaborated with Earl Klugh, David Sanborn and other smooth-jazz notables. He served as Sarah Vaughan's musical director from 1965 to 1968 before developing the mannered compositions that have defined his career.

Like a lot of fellow recording artists, James was initially opposed to the use of his music as samples. When record companies began to insist that DJs clear licensing rights to samples, performers like James unsurprisingly changed their tune -- they started getting paid. The switch has provided him with "a little cottage industry," he has said.

Still sought by DJs in the original vinyl format, all of James's best-recognized songs are included on the 2009 release of the 2-CD set 'The Very Best of Bob James.' Several years ago, James collaborated with DJ Rob Swift, who introduced the pianist to the world of turntablism. In return, James had something he could offer the DJ. Swift "wanted me to describe what it was like to make music when musicians are playing together at the same time," he explained with some amazement. "To him, it was like something from the distant primeval."

When James arrived at a New York City smooth-jazz radio station for an interview, a hip-hop station in the same building found out about his visit and invited him on the air.

"I got much better coverage there than the first place," he recalled. "I was like this creature from another world."