H [PA]

Performer: Bob James
Producer: Bob James
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Bob James (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Oberheim synthesizer); Hiram Bullock (vocals, guitar, electric guitar); David Brown , Bruce Dunlap (acoustic guitar); Barry Finclair, Marvin Morgenstern, Lewis Ely, Regis Iandiorio, Matthew Raimondi, Jan Mullen, Max Ellen (violin); Lamar Alsop, Al Brown (viola); Jonathan Abramowitz, Charles McCracken (cello); David Nadien (strings); Grover Washington, Jr. (tin whistle, soprano saxophone, percussion); Eddie Daniels, George Marge, Jerry Dodgion, Phil Bodner, Romeo Penque (woodwinds); Jon Faddis, Mike Lawrence , Randy Brecker, Danny Cahn (trumpet); Jim Pugh, Barry Rogers, Paul Faulise (trombone); Gary King, Doug Stegmeyer (bass instrument); Liberty DeVitto, Buddy Williams (drum); Leonard "Doc" Gibbs, Ralph MacDonald (percussion). Arranger: Bob James. Bob James entered the '80s in style with this recording. Although all the tracks sound potentially commercial, "H" garnered only one true hit song, Grover Washington, Jr.'s "Brighton by the Sea," a melodic, peaceful tune which blends well into this theme-based recording. The listener is taken on a sonic journey, from a tropical island on the opening track, "Snowbird Fantasy," to the Haute-Auvergne region of France on James' adaptation and arrangement of "Shepard's Song," to the races on "Thoroughbred," to the countryside on "The Walkman," which features an enthusiastic vocal/guitar improvisation on the part of Hiram Bullock. Grover Washington, Jr. joins James again for his take on "Reunited," helping James make the song his own. Bob James arranged all pieces on the recording, as well as conducting his standard orchestra featuring, among others, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and Eddie Daniels on flute and clarinet.

Keyboardist Bob James is a man who has worn many musical hats. He began as a progressive-jazz pianist in the early 1960s (he even recorded for famed underground avant-garde label ESP). By the '70s, however, he'd incorporated electric keyboards and become a star in the burgeoning fusion genre, making records which would later be sampled by countless hip-hop artists. Along the way, he was also involved in the soundtracks for everything from SERPICO to the TV show TAXI, and worked as arranger and producer for Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, and others. In the '90s, James became even more popular as a member of the smooth-jazz supergroup Fourplay.

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