Contemporary Jazz legends Bob James and Earl Klugh will reunite for a week at the Blue Note to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of their 1979 GRAMMY® winning, platinum-selling collaboration, One On One. With a total of nearly 70 full-length albums recorded independently by Klugh and James, their award-winning discographies are impressive and diverse.The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to evolve at every turn. From his first days of piano recital in Marshall, Missouri to his own trio while at the University of Michigan to New York City and beyond, the music of Bob James has captivated audiences throughout the world.
Discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, Bob recorded his first solo album, Bold Conceptions, that year for Mercury Records. 36 more solo albums would follow through four decades; that number is just to date and does not include his Grammy award winning collaboration projects. Although he was to record another trio album, Explosions, for ESP (1964), it was not until Bob met up with Creed Taylor in New York that his composing, arranging and recording career really took off. After working on albums for CTI artists like Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr. and many others, Bob finally recorded his own album, One. This introduced his music to a bigger audience and launched a lifelong career of recording and performing live. There were to be three more CTI albums before Bob moved to CBS in the 1970's and began his own label, Tappan Zee Records. It was during this time that he recorded his own gold seller, Touchdown, which included his composition, Angela, Theme from 'Taxi.' Bob composed all the original music used in that television series for its entire run. One On One, the first in three collaborations with Earl Klugh, was awarded a Grammy in 1980 and has sold over a million copies. A different aspect of the musical talent of Bob James was demonstrated on his three classical albums recorded for the CBS Masterworks division, the first of which was Rameau released in 1984.
In 1985 Bob moved to Warner Bros Records and began that association with another million seller and Grammy winner, Double Vision, his collaboration with David Sanborn, produced by Tommy LiPuma. It was in 1990 while recording his Grand Piano Canyon album that Bob reunited with his old friend, drummer Harvey Mason, Jr. and worked for the first time with Lee Ritenour on guitar and Nathan East on bass. The sessions for this project were the genesis of the group, Fourplay. Their first album was recorded and released in 1991. They have gone on to record four more albums, with Larry Carlton taking over on guitar in 1998 in time for album number and title, 4.
On April 7, Bob was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. The award and tribute were presented in Toronto to Bob By his longtime friend and musical colleague, Alexander Zonjic.
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For over three decades and to this very day, the name Earl Klugh is synonymous with “Guitar Legend.” He maintains a loyal and devoted fan base, touring all over the US and the world, playing music that is beautiful, lyrical, elegant and eternally cool and classy.
With “The Spice Of Life,” Earl follows his 2005 Grammy-nominated solo classic “Naked Guitar” with his first full-ensemble album in more than eight years!
Aided by silk-smooth arrangements, courtesy of three-time Grammy winner Don Sebesky, Earl sails through a collection of originals, standards (“C’est Si Bon,” “My Foolish Heart”), and even a Thelonious Monk tune (“Bye Ya.”) The sound is absolutely true to the Earl Klugh style: timeless, positive, and still fresh, with pristine studio sound.
"One of the solo pieces I wrote is directly in the style of Antonio Lauro, a classical guitarist and composer from Venezuela," Klugh notes. "When I was young, there wasn't a lot of sheet music for classical guitar. Antonio's waltzes were some of the first transcriptions I ever had, and they are beautiful. I wrote and named the piece 'Venezuelan Nights' in honor of Antonio."
Klugh continues to be one of the most in-demand live artists globally. In 2007, Klugh introduced his concert series, Night of Guitars, featuring fellow guitar legends Bill Frisell, Russell Malone, Ray Parker Jr. and Peter White. He has toured India twice with the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department and The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. In early April 2008, Klugh presented his 5th Annual Weekend of Jazz at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, CO, joining world-renowned peers Ramsey Lewis, Boney James, Mindi Abair and fellow KOCH labelmate Sophie Milman.
Earl Klugh won the 1980 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the million-selling album One on One with Bob James. Klugh's first KOCH album, "Naked Guitar," was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album. "Collaboration," his 1987 album with George Benson, was certified Gold by the RIAA. He has recorded over 30 albums in his multi-million-selling career,
For more information: Blue Note Jazz Club New York
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