When discussing straight-ahead jazz, Miles Davis’ quintet (1965-1968) of Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams comes to mind. If West Coast cool jazz becomes a matter of discourse, let’s talk Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. Fast-forward to the 1970s, when smooth jazz sailed over the airways into bars and music halls, then we are talking about the pianist, arranger and composer Bob James.

In 1990, having already earned recognition as a marquee headliner and producer James joined forces with an elite group of musicians to form Fourplay, the only smooth jazz group worth discussing. Fourplay is a stellar group of musicians who became household names within the smooth jazz arena while playing in a variety of genre configurations. They are: the drummer Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock, Barbra Streisand and Notorious BIG), the bassist-vocalist Nathan East (Barry White, Eric Clapton, Toto and Phil Collins) and guitarist Chuck Loeb for the last five years (Hubert Laws, Chico Hamilton, Stan Getz and Joe Farrell) following guitarist Lee Ritenour’s exit in the mid-1990s.

James is best known for his classics “Westchester Lady” (off the album “Three,” CBS Records) and “Angela,” the 1978 theme from the TV sitcom “Taxi.” Individually they are vibrant musicians who have influenced generations of young artists. Together as Fourplay they have turned the genre of smooth jazz into their own kettle of home-brewed gumbo whose spiced ingredients include pop, funk and jazz.

Their recent 25th anniversary celebration at the West Village’s Blue Note jazz club was an intensified fusion of improvisation. Such a term is rarely used to describe a smooth or contemporary jazz group, but these aren’t your regular type of smooth cats, this is Fourplay, the leaders of the pack.

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Talking about Fourplay’s silver anniversary from the stage of New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club on Dec. 1, the formidable bassist Nathan East related his wife’s reaction to the group’s milestone. “I don’t know—25 years of Fourplay? Isn’t it time to get down to … ?” East didn’t need to finish the sentence for the capacity crowd to start giggling.

The slightly risqué name, however, has always had more to do with the playful nature of the all-star instrumental jazz/pop quartet (Bob James on keyboards, East on bass, Chuck Loeb on guitar and Harvey Mason on drums), which delights in tossing melodic and rhythmic ideas around the bandstand like the Harlem Globetrotters moving up the basketball court. That kind of synergy only gets better with age.

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The Jazz group, Fourplay: Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb, and Harvey Mason, celebrated their 25^th anniversary at the Blue Note New York with a rousing performance to promote their new CD, Silver, released on the Heads Up International label, a division of Concord Music Group; it was a not-to-be-missed evening of music.

As longtime fans of the Jazz supergroup Fourplay, we had the ultimate pleasure of attending the first show of their 6-night gig at the acclaimed Jazz club, the Blue Note New York located in the heart of Greenwich Village on December 1, 2015. Although we were well familiar with their style and talent seeing and hearing this multi-talented band perform live made for a remarkable evening that will go down as one to remember in our musical memory banks.

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