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

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!

Yamaha Entertainment Group has released The New Cool by pianist Bob James and bassist Nathan East. This acoustic duo of James and East offers their fans a new way of listening to their creative efforts aside from their membership in their Grammy Award-winning group called Fourplay. The legendary keyboardist and master bass player perform 11 songs including several of their original compositions as well as a few classics. Singer/songwriter Vince Gill is featured on “Crazy,” while percussionist Rafael Padilla and drummer Scott Williamson appear on “Canto Y La Danza.” Chris Gero, Bob James, Nathan East and Bryan Lenox produced The New Cool.

The New Cool is a celebration of more than 25 years of friendship and musical camaraderie between Nathan East and Bob James. The Grammy Award-winning artists extend the boundaries of their musicality on such songs as “The New Cool,” and “Oliver’s Bag,” both of which are minimalist, bluesy duets to the lushly appointed, beautifully orchestrated “Waltz for Judy” featuring the Nashville Recording Orchestra. The waltz reveals another layer of Bob James’ virtuosity as a pianist and Nathan East’s electric bass guitar wizardry in an orchestral setting. Their rendition of the Latin classic “Canto Y La Danza” features the stellar bass work of Nathan East in several different tempi and the pianism of Bob James at its very best accompanied by Padilla and Williamson.

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Masterfully “Cool”: An album unlike any other…
by

Bob James and Nathan East

“The New Cool,” an expansive acoustic offering centered on scholarly jazz piano and bass duets, will be released September 18, a first from the GRAMMY®-honored artists and long-time collaborators. 

 Nashville, Tennessee (7 July 2015): Albums just aren’t made like the way “The New Cool” was made. Yamaha Entertainment Group label president Chris Gero put legendary keyboardist Bob James and master bassist Nathan East in the recording studio, equipped them with state-of-the-art Yamaha gear and gave them free reign to create. Recorded entirely in Nashville, the long-time collaborators emerged with an unexpected and audacious collection of original compositions plus a few handpicked classics, an acoustic jazz outing that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about these GRAMMY®-recognized artists best known as contemporary jazz luminaries. The disc produced by Gero, James and East will be released September 18.
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Listen to a single from the CD at www.bobjames.com!

The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College and Tappan Zee Records are pleased to announce the USA release of the new CD Bob James Live at the Milliken Auditorium as recorded in concert with the Grammy Award winning Jazz pianist Bob James and the Bob James Quartet on May 3, 2014.

The CD features Bob James – Piano with Perry Hughes – Guitar, Clarence Penn – Drums and Nathaniel Phillips – Bass.  It includes 8 extended tracks from the concert including, Blues Down Under 6:56; The Jody Grind 7:25; Skidaway 9:46; Where are You/Downtown 8:49; Night Crawler 7:07; Nautilus 7:03; Westchester Lady 6:20; Angela/Someone to Watch Over Me; 10:45.

The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jack Conners, Milliken Tech Director and features concert photography by Dave Dalquist. Production of the CD was made possible with a grant to the Dennos from the Begonia Charitable Foundation and managed by Sonny Abelardo.

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“Get Lucky,” the monster hit single by French duo Daft Punk, turned one year old earlier this month. By coincidence, renowned session bassist Nathan East released a video for his track, “Daft Funk,” which plays on his association with the group, almost a year to the date of the initial release of “Get Lucky” on April 19, 2013.

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Grammy Award winning Jazz Legend Bob James returns to the Milliken Auditorium with the Bob James Quartet.  Featuring James on piano, Clarence Penn on drums, Perry Hughes on guitar and Nate Phillips on bass.

Bob James was discovered at the 1963 Notre Dame Jazz Festival by legendary producer Quincy Jones.  That same year he recorded his first solo album “Bold Conceptions” for Mercury Records. From there he went on to make his  mark as the musical director for Sarah Vaughn.  Bob also worked on many successful albums for CTI Records.

In 1977 James started his is own label, Tappan Zee Records, which gave him the opportunity to spend more time in the studio working on his own recordings.  During that time he recorded the gold award winning album “Touch Down,” which included his composition “Angela” from the TV show Taxi.

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Chameleon, the scintillating Concord Records debut from multi-GRAMMY® nominated Harvey Mason, finds him drawing upon the rich jazz-funk legacy of the 1970s and recasting seven of that era’s most enduring classics with an early 21st-century sheen. A legendary session drummer, producer, composer and recording artist, Mason is among the most recorded and in-demand musicians of all-time.

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Harvey Mason is among the most recorded and in-demand drummers of all-time. A legendary, multi-GRAMMY® nominated session drummer, producer, composer & recording artist, he has worked with a pantheon of musical giants, including Barbra Streisand, James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Bjork, Carlos Santana, Michael Jackson, John Legend, Seal, and the London Symphony Orchestra. He has composed and written songs recorded by artists ranging from Nancy Wilson and Mary J. Blige to The Notorious B.I.G., Lupe Fiasco, Nelly/P. Diddy and T.I.

Chameleon, Mason’s April 29, 2014 solo debut for Concord Records and 10th solo project overall, adds one more remarkable chapter to his legacy. A blend of R&B, urban and cutting-edge jazz, Chameleon takes its inspiration from the title track, which Mason co-wrote with Herbie Hancock, and is a knowing nod to Mason himself, aptly dubbed the “Chameleon” for his uncanny ability to perform so many styles of music. The album updates classic tracks that Mason either wrote or actually played on, such as Hancock’s “Chameleon,” Grover Washington’s “Black Frost,” Patrice Rushen’s “Before the Dawn,” Donald Byrd’s “Places and Spaces” and Mason’s own “Either Way.” Look for Mason to hit the road with his new band Chameleon to support his Concord release.

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