Make sure to catch the 58th Grammy Awards tonight, where Bob James is nominated for, Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella for the song “Ghost Of A Chance”, from THE NEW COOL.   THE NEW COOL is the album released in 2015 with long time friend and band mate [fOURPLAY], Nathan East.

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella.

Ghost Of A Chance
Bob James, arranger (Bob James & Nathan East)
Track from: The New Cool (Bob James & Nathan East)
Label: Yamaha Entertainment Group Of America
http://www.grammy.com/nominees

We Asked Fourplay 5 Questions About Their ‘Silver Album’ Recorded At Sunset Sound

It’s hard to come up with a more evocative sound than a Fourplay song – the flowing funk undertones of drummer Harvey Mason and bassist Nathan East, and the wonderful keyboard work of Bob James support the memorable themes they have created for over 25 years. Their newest guitarist Chuck Loeb is joined by Fourplay alumni and Jazz guitar icons Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour on Silver, the newest album from this seminal group.

Composer, producer and keyboardist Bob James is well known for writing such evocative themes as “Angela”, a song so singular that it can serve as the theme of a sitcom as well as the backing track to the newest Cee Lo song. The Fourplay member/founder sat down with us in this edition of Deezer Five Questions:

Continue reading at DEEZER…

Bob James and Nathan East have been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental/A-Cappella category, for “Ghost of a Chance”, from  the album “THE NEW COOL”, at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

James and East teamed up for this project, each bringing their own previous Grammy experience to create something special.  James, prior winner of two Grammys, also wrote the theme song to the hit television series “Taxi”.  East is hot off of his own Grammy nomination for his first ever solo record, 2014’s “NATHAN EAST”, and a Grammy Record of the Year win for laying down the bass on Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”.

Check out the Grammy nominations releases from the L.A. Times, E-Online, Perez Hilton, the Kansas City Star, the San Diego Union Tribune, and NBC-San Diego!

IN EVERY SPORT, THERE ARE PLAYERS THAT, WHILE YOU MAY NOT EVER REALLY NOTICE THEM, THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO BE ON THE WINNING AND CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM. YOGI BERRA WAS ONE OF THOSE GUYS, MAGIC JOHNSON ANOTHER. THEY ONLY KNOW HOW TO SUCCEED.

BOB JAMES IS ONE OF THOSE TYPES OF GUYS. HE’S BEEN ON COUNTLESS SESSIONS THAT HAVE BEEN BEST SELLERS. HE WAS THE KEYBOARDIST IN RESIDENCE FOR THE CLASSIC CTI ALBUMS IN THE 70S THAT SET THE STANDARD FOR JAZ Z RECORDINGS. HIS WORK WITH GROVER WASHINGTON JR MADE JAZZ A HOUSEHOLD NAME. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THAT HAPPENED?!?

BESIDES ALL OF THAT, HIS BAND FOURPLAY HAS BEEN A  PERENNIALLY…  Continue Reading Here at Jazz Weekly…

Mike Ragogna: What? Fourplay’s been around for 25 years? The hell you say!

Bob James: You gotta love it! Here we are, Mike. Humbled by the math, but still thinking of adding some more arithmetic.

Nathan East: Hi Mike! It’s hard to believe 25 years since we started Fourplay but as they say “time flies when you’re having FUN!”

Chuck Loeb: Yes! Amazing…let’s do this!

MR: Cool. Before we get into the material on Silver, what are your thoughts about reaching that milestone?

BJ: Looking down at the roses beats pushing them up.

NE: When you embark on a career-defining journey with a gathering of musical-champions, in an exhilarating atmosphere like the vibrant music industry in 1990, it’s celebrated with the kind of energy that makes a milestone like this more likely.

CL: My situation in the band is unique, in the sense that I am the newest member of the band, and I’m just celebrating my fifth year as a member. This offers me some insight from a different perspective of the 25th anniversary. Back at the inception of the band I was a fan of all of the original members individually, and was just totally knocked out when I heard the collaboration on the original CD Fourplay. And so, I can offer my perspective as both an avid observer, and a member. I think the thing that contributes the most to the longevity of the band is the continual striving for excellence in all the facets of creating contemporary jazz: composition, improvisation, production, performance, and a strong connection with the listening audience. I know that the band hit those marks in the first 20 years, and it is my hope that they’ve continued to be met on the three CDs I have had the pleasure to have been involved with, including Silver.

Harvey Mason: From the outset of Fourplay, we insisted our project would not be a “one off” as we intended to follow the longevity model of the Modern Jazz Quartet, commonly known as the MJQ. The synergy was so very special why not continue making this great music. Twenty-five years is indeed a group milestone achieved by few, I’m proud and happy we’ve reached it. From my perspective it has certainly come quickly.

CONTINUE READING THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT THE HUFFINGTON POST

September 2015 – 25th Anniversary Tour (continue reading…)

Allt är silver som glimmar när superkvartetten Fourplay 25-årsjubilerar. Tre av fyra har varit med 
sedan starten och på platta nr. 13 serveras idel nya kompositioner på temat snillrikt harmoniserad och fulländ­ad smooth jazz. (continue reading…)

THE NEW COOL is available NOW! Get yours here:
iTunes download: http://smarturl.it/TNC-iTunes
Physical CD + bonus photos: http://4wrd.it/TNC-YEGstore
Amazon.com: http://4wrd.it/TNC-Amazon

Behind-the-scenes videos & more at http://thenewcoolalbum.com

Nathan talks about Bob’s brilliant talent for arranging music…
THE NEW COOL is coming… 9.18.15. Pre-order now and get TWO instant tracks from the new album: http://smarturl.it/tnc-preorder
More at http://thenewcoolalbum.com

The New Cool, an acoustic offering by Fourplay founders Bob James (keyboards) and Nathan East (bass), will be released September 18 via Yamaha Entertainment Group. Recorded entirely in Nashville, the album was co-produced by Yamaha label president Chris Gero with James and East.

JazzTimes is pleased to present this exclusive premiere of the entire album!

Listen to the FULL ALBUM HERE!