Sunday, August 29, 2021

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bob James and Earl Klugh


Artist:Bob James and Earl Klugh

Song:Kari

Album:One on One


There was a time in the late 70s that smooth jazz pioneer Bob James was one of the hottest musicians in the business. This was mostly because of the success of his theme from the popular sitcom Taxi. It opened a lot of doors for him as a recording artist. Until that point James was a very successful session musician, composer and arranger. So he started his own label Tappan Zee with Columbia distribution. The third album on this deal was the 1979 album One on One with rising star guitarist Earl Klugh. Klugh had success with three albums for Blue Note. James liked what he heard and he wanted to record with Klugh. They worked out a deal where the two would record two albums, the first for Columbia and the second for EMI. Kari is from the 1979 album One on One on Columbia. The album was very successful and it won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Klugh wrote Kari. Musicians are Neil Jason on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion. The second James/Klugh album was the 1982 album Two of a Kind on EMI's Manhattan label. Later on they recorded the 1992 album Cool on Warner Bros. I think both guys were on Warners at the time. One on One is available on CD. I recommend it to fans of smooth jazz. Here's a video of Kari by Bob James and Earl Klugh.

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