Shine

“The Total Experience” is aptly named for although James’ sax clearly is front and center for most of this invigorating album he has assembled a stellar cast of musicians and vocalists for this song. The superb musicians are simply too numerous to mention so let me just highlight a few. Let us begin with the strings players, which include twelve violinists, four viola players and four cellists. The dreamy gauzy ambience created by the strings coupled with George Duke’s chops on the Rhodes and pianist Johnny Britt provides a nice counter balance to the fuller bodied horn section. Blowing the notes for “The Total Experience” are Jerry Hey (trumpet and flugel horn), trombonist Bill Reichenbach, Dan Higgins (sax) and James on tenor saxophone.

From an instrumental perspective, Boney James has clearly defined contemporary west coast jazz in much the same way as Boz Scaggs put his stamp on vocals. During the first week after his tenth album Shine was released James’ most recent project sold 20,000 units.

Walk down a deserted street late at night, as you step off the curb into another puddle, you pull your hat low over your eyes to keep the rain away. These are the images evoked by the plaintive vocals emanating from James’ horn as we ease into In The Rain. The mood is reflective. Detroit native Dwele’s silky smooth vocals find solace in the rain that hides his tears. The vocalist better known in the urban and hip hop circles demonstrates what those in the industry have known for a long time that he possesses rich baritone R&B flavored vocals. His ‘baby what about you and me’ attitude is seductive and soulful.

In every way, “In The Rain” is the antithesis of “The Total Experience”. Where as “The Total Experience” is an upbeat song with elaborate arrangements “In The Rain” is a simplified arrangement with James on sax, Tim Camron on Keyboards and Agape on guitar.

Grammy award winner and platinum recording artist Faith Evans’s R&B vocals take full advantage of the playful lyrics and tease us into believing she really is “Gonna Get Your Loving,” as she belts out the words to the sixth track “Gonna Get It”. James sees triple action on alto and tenor saxophone as well as providing solid keyboard chops.

Philip Bailey the lead vocalist for Earth, Wind & Fire is featured on “Love Song”. The arrangements accomplish exactly what they should when you have an artist of Bailey’s caliber; the musicians accompany him rather than compete for attention.

The incomparable George Benson takes the lead with “Hypnotic” as his fingers caress the strings of his guitar. Although there are many musicians that appear on “Hypnotic” the performance of Benson and James is so strong that with the exception of pianist Tim Camron everyone else blends into the background. It is unlikely that Benson and James were in the studio at the same time but it sure would be great to see these two on stage at the same time.

During the album’s brief tenure, Shine has occupied the number one spot on the Contemporary Jazz chart, number two on the Jazz Chart and taken sixth place honors in the R&B rankings.

• Title: Shine
• Artist: Boney James
• Label: Concord Music Group
• Released: October 2006
• Length: 12 Tracks / 50:36