Double Vision

Performer: Bob James
Artist: Al Jarreau
Engineer: Bill Schnee
Producer: Tommy LiPuma
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Bob James (keyboards); David Sanborn (alto saxophone); Al Jarrerau (vocals). David Sanborn's saxophone complements Bob James' keyboards perfectly on the appropriately titled DOUBLE VISION. Sanborn, James, and bassist Marcus Miller all contribute compositions, and the listener encounters a wonderful variety of musical styles throughout the album's seven tracks. DOUBLE VISION opens on its highest note with Miller's "Maputo," a lush and moody song that highlights Sanborn's skills and sets the pace for the rest of the recording. Miller also penned the romantic "More than Friends". James and Sanborn join compositional forces on "Moon Tune" and "Never Enough." Sanborn contributes the popular "It's You," a tune that features James prominently. "Maputo" may be the DOUBLE VISION's instrumental highlight, but Al Jarreau's vocal on "Since I Fell for You" is the album's romantic peak. This 1986 collaboration ranks top among contemporary jazz albums.

Q (5/95, p.132) - 2 Stars - Average - "...More than a trifle bland, the combined talents of bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Steve Gadd and guest vocalist Al Jarreau do little to inject it with life." Mojo (Publisher) (2/04, p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]his is a singularly beautiful summit of two fusion giants."

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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