Bands don’t last over two decades with minimal turnover in personnel and continued success if they’re composed of egotists, prima donnas, drama queens or people that just don’t play nice together. Fourplay has endured and thrived because it is an egalitarian coalition of seasoned professionals who set aside private agendas to serve the group dynamic.

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Listen to the Interview!

Bob James talks about the single “Put Our Hearts Together“, from Fourplay’s new album Esprit de Four, and his personal connection to the people and culture that makes Japan so special.

‘Esprit De Four’ is still working over the top of the charts…

Currently #7 on the Contemporary Jazz Chart!

After 13 albums scattered across 21 years, the men of Fourplay need no introduction but here they are nonetheless – Bob James (keyboards), Nathan East (bass), Chuck Loeb (guitar) and Harvey Mason (drums).

The group’s previous Heads Up release, “Let’s Touch the Sky” (2010), was fine but “Esprit de Four” is distinctly warmer and more appealing. The opener, “December Dream,” gets things started right by being both enchantingly ephemeral and rooted in rhythm. Loeb’s guitar work is exquisite here, as it is on the lovely, mellow title track.

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Fourplay’s Esprit de Four has moved to #2 on the Contemporary Jazz Chart!

Fourplay’s new recording, Esprit de Four, is another fine example of contemporary jazz. This is the kind of music that connects with its soul-searching passion and its sweetness of heart. Among the more notable tracks is the Bob James’s composition “Put Our Hearts Together,” which he wrote for a concert in a region of Japan severely impacted by the tsunami of 2011. It appears as both an instrumental and vocal version on the CD. Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda lends her voice to this moving tribute.

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“How does one attain the type of musical diversity, popularity, and longevity in the music business as grammy winning bassist, songwriter and vocalist Nathan East?

Find out…

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Fourplay serenades the seas of the Mediterranean with Dave Koz.

On a visit to Chiang Mai, one could end up at the Airport Central Plaza.  The Plaza is a 5 story mall with virtually everything one can imagine.