The Hall of Fame Award (formerly Citation of Merit) was established to recognize and honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society, their profession, the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, one of its departments or programs, or to the School of Music, Theatre & Dance Alumni Society. This award has been presented annually since 1977.

Bob James is a two-time GRAMMY award-winning smooth jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer. James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, however, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop music, having been sampled often. Two of James’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s Oneand “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s Two  – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. He was discovered by Quincy Jones at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1963, and subsequently recorded his first solo album, Bold Conceptions, that year for Mercury Records.

He honed his skills working with Creed Taylor, working on albums for artists like Hank Crawford, Grover Washington, Jr, among others. James found great popular success overseeing significant hits for Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Maynard Ferguson, and Kenny Loggins. James has recorded 58 albums over five decades, including collaboration with his daughter, the group Fourplay, Earl Klugh, and Keiko Matsui, among many others. James began his own label, Tappan Zee Records and recorded his own gold seller, Touchdown, which included his composition, “Angela”, the instrumental theme from the sitcom ‘Taxi’, and possibly James’ best know work. One On One, the first in three collaborations with Earl Klugh, was awarded a GRAMMY in 1980 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and has sold over a million copies. In 1985, James moved to Warner Bros Records and recorded Double Vision in collaboration with David Sanborn, and produced by Tommy LiPuma. Double Vision was another GRAMMY award winner, selling over a million albums. James has been honored by many jazz music institutions, and by his hometown of Marshall, MO with the inaugural ‘Bob James Jazz Festival.’ He continues to tour nationally and internationally as a solo artist and with Nathan East, Harvey Mason, and Chuck Loeb as Fourplay.

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