Synopsis (from bobjames.com)
Contemporary jazz icons Bob James and Dave Koz claim the No. 1 spot on the Luminate (formerly SoundScan) Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart with their aptly titled duo album Just Us, released by Just Koz Entertainment. Download / stream Just Us HERE.
Just Us is completely unlike anything either artist has ever recorded. It’s raw and unplugged with just the saxophone and piano only, on every song. They recorded most of the tracks in the living room of James’ Traverse City, MI home, setting up a mic for Koz’s alto and two soprano saxes next to Bob’s grand piano.
The longtime friends kicked off their “Just Us” mini-tour with a sold-out show at the intimate Alluvian in Traverse City. Local Spins said, “[The] pianist and saxophonist created musical magic as a duo with nary a drummer, guitarist or bassist in sight.” They’ll wrap up the run with shows at The Parkway in Minneapolis (March 25) and Jazz Alley in Seattle (April 1 – the 1st show is sold out; limited tickets remain for the 2nd show). Tickets are available HERE.
Lead single “New Hope” – an elegant, deeply emotional reminder that we can be optimistic and dare to dream, even in uncertain times – is one of seven new original compositions found on Just Us. The album also features three standards – “My Ship,” “All The Way” and “Smile.” View James and Koz performing “T W O” in Bob’s living room HERE. “Even through our decades of friendship, I don’t think we could have made this album before this moment,” explains Bob James, a two-time GRAMMY® winner who’s known as both a hip-hop icon and the godfather of smooth jazz. “We were emboldened because for a long time we didn’t know we were even making an album. Everything was about our natural musical kinship, represented by the piano and sax in all their full, beauty, glory and nakedness. Where else can you hear these instruments without any sonic competition?”
My Thoughts:
Sorry (not really), we’re trying something new again! In this version of reality, we talk about live shows. I kind of go to a lot of them. As I write this, I’m 2 days away from Subhumans/FEA, so…yeah.
So, on March 25th, my partner and I attended the show at the Parkway Theater – which, by the way, is an absolutely gorgeous little deco theater built in 1931. It was revamped in 2018, which I believe is when it became a First Avenue venue, but they kept the deco vibes. It’s amazing in there. I didn’t see for myself, but apparently even the bathrooms are done up in a really stunning deco wallpaper.
But. Let’s move past my heart-eyes for the building and focus on the show we were there for. If you’re a person of a certain age (definitely millenial or older – anything newer than that, I can’t speak to), you definitely know Bob James. Even if you don’t realize you do. Remember Taxi? The tv show starring Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Andy Kaufman, and Jeff Conaway (“A hickey from Kenickie’s like a Hallmark card!”). The theme song is a Bob James original. Bob James is a jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He is also, at this moment, 85 YEARS OLD. And you wouldn’t know it to look at him or to hear him play. If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed he was at least a decade younger. The man can still get it. James has an impressive 2 Grammy wins, and 19 nominations over his decades-long career.
Bob James has been sampled over 1900 times by artists like Ghostface Killah, Eric B. & Rakim, N.W.A., De La Soul, Roberta Flack, Redman, and Del the Funky Homosapien, just to name a few you might know.
Dave Koz was a new one for me, but I really enjoyed his playing. Koz is a 62 year old jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He has been nominated for 9 Grammys so far.
The two together are a truly beautiful combination. And as the tour name may have implied, it is JUST the two of them. For two hours, we sat in a room full of a surprisingly diverse room of people. I mostly expected older, wealthier, “jazz afficianado”-types. You know – the snappers. And don’t get me wrong – there were plenty of them in attendance. But there was a really wide range of ages, appearances, and at least outward appearances of personal wealth. I figured that at around 40, we would be some of the youngest in attendance. But I stand corrected. The appeal of getting your face melted off by 2 hours of jazz so smooth you can hardly handle it is ageless, apparently.
Seriously, though.
The tour is over, but if you like jazz, I highly suggest checking the album out.
