Bob James

The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn as the music of Bob James has captivated audiences throughout the world.

Discovered by Quincy Jones and 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. James has also worked with icons like Harvey Mason, Jr, Lee Ritenour, Chuck Loeb, Kirk Whalum, Keiko Matsui, David Sanborn and many more.

While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop, having been sampled often. Two of James’ 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. 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. In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album Still Standing.

The Jazz Kitchen

5377 N. College Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46220

  • 317-253-4900
  • Street parking available