Bob James & Keiko Matsui Tandem Piano Concert
East meets West with a jazz fusion flavor on Valentine’s Day week-end in Cable Recital Hall in the Canton Cultural Center for the Arts.
Bob James' recordings have practically defined pop/jazz and crossover
during the past few decades. Very influenced by pop and movie music,
James has often featured R&B-ish soloists (most notably Grover
Washington, Jr.) who add a jazz touch to what is essentially an
instrumental pop set. He actually started out in music going with a
much different direction. In 1962, James recorded a bop-ish trio set
for Mercury, and three years later his album for ESP was quite
avant-garde, with electronic tapes used for effects. After a period
with Sarah Vaughan (1965-1968), he became a studio musician, and by
1973 was arranging and working as a producer for CTI. In 1974, James
recorded his first purely commercial effort as a leader; he later made
big-selling albums for his own Tappan Zee label, Columbia, and Warner
Bros., including collaborations with Earl Klugh and David Sanborn.
James remains relatively busy in the studio and since 2000 has released
several albums including Dancing on the Water in 2001, That Steamin'
Feelin' in 2002, Hi-Fi in 2003, and Urban Flamingo in 2006, among
others.
Keiko Matsui Fusion/new age keyboard player Keiko Matsui grew up in Tokyo and took
her first piano lesson at the age of five. Influenced by Stevie Wonder
and Rachmaninov as well as early fusion masters Maurice Jarre and Chick
Corea, Matsui began composing while in junior high but studied
children's culture at the Japan Women's University (Nihon
Joshidaigaku). She moved to the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo after
graduation and formed Cosmos, recording four albums with the new age
group. Her first album as a leader, 1987's A Drop of Water, was
released in the U.S. two years after the fact on Passport. The LP also
featured her touring partner and husband, shakuhachi player Kazu
Matsui, and was financed with their honeymoon money. A contract with
MCA that year resulted in two albums, No Borders and Under Northern
Lights. Matsui moved to the White Cat label in 1992 and began charting
in the contemporary jazz charts. Her 1995 album Sapphire hit number one
on the charts, and its follow-up also reached the Top Ten the following
year. Whisper from the Mirror followed in 2000; Deep Blue appeared the
next year. The Ring from 2002 recalled the composer's classical
background while 2004's Wildflower flirted with world music. Walls of
Akendora appeared in 2005 with a smooth jazz flavor and updated version
of Matsui's early hit, "Mountain Shakedown." Moyo followed in 2007.