Boney James

Boney James first stepped forward as a bandleader on the 1992 album Trust. Since then the saxophonist and composer has maintained a steady position near the top of contemporary jazz rankings, although his approach remains rougher and more forceful than the style typically allows. Multiple Grammy nominations and gold-certified releases later, his blend of soul-jazz, R&B, funk, and pop, together with an explosive stage presence, has shaped the direction of twenty-first-century contemporary jazz. Projects such as 1999’s Body Language, 2004’s Pure, and 2015’s Futuresoul have left their mark on a generation of musicians who came after. The run of hits extended through 2017’s number-one Honestly and 2020’s Solid, which climbed to tenth place on the pop album chart. Detour arrived in 2022 as his eighteenth studio album. Two years afterward Concord Jazz issued Slow Burn; the first single from the all-star collection to reach the charts was “All I Want Is You,” performed by October London.

Born James Oppenheim in New Rochelle, New York, he took up the clarinet at age eight and switched to saxophone two years later. Grover Washington, Jr. exerted the strongest early influence on his playing. When he turned fifteen the family relocated to Los Angeles, where he soon joined the fusion group Line One and performed as an opener for Flora Purim and the Yellowjackets. After one year at UC Berkeley he transferred to UCLA to keep working with the band, eventually earning a history degree yet choosing to pursue music full time and adding keyboards to his instrumental arsenal.

In 1985 James joined Morris Day’s touring band on keyboards and soon persuaded Day to let him play saxophone instead. Four years alongside Day led to steady session work on tenor, alto, soprano, and flute with artists including Randy Crawford, Sheena Easton, the Isley Brothers, and Bobby Caldwell. The nickname Boney James originated during a tour with Crawford when a keyboardist joked that eating so little would earn him the moniker.

His first leader date, Trust, appeared on Spindletop in 1992 and secured a Warner Bros. contract two years later. While on that label he issued Backbone, Seduction, Boney’s Funky Christmas, Sweet Thing, Shake It Up, Ride, and Pure. In 2006 he moved to Concord Records for Shine, followed by Send One Your Love in 2009. The following year, after performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was rear-ended on the drive home; the crash destroyed his car and left him with a fractured jaw and two missing teeth, injuries that threatened to halt his career. He recovered and in 2011 released Contact, whose title reflected the accident’s lasting impact on his outlook and work.

James renewed his Concord agreement in 2012. The next year he issued The Beat, an album that merged his longstanding interest in R&B with Latin rhythms and featured Raheem DeVaughn and Floacist. For Futuresoul he looked further back to 1980s and 1990s R&B, hip-hop, and his own smooth-jazz roots; the 2015 set employed a smaller core group of players and included a guest appearance by trumpeter Marquis Hill. It opened at number one on the contemporary jazz chart and later reached the top of the traditional jazz albums chart as well. He pared the ensemble even further for 2017’s Honestly, his sixteenth album, which he produced and for which he co-wrote every track except an interpretation of the Johnny Mercer–Hoagy Carmichael standard “Skylark.” Vocalist Avery Sunshine appeared on the title song, which also became a charting Urban Adult single, while Eric Roberson joined him on “If I Can’t Hold You.” The first instrumental single, “Tick Tock,” was one of four tracks co-written and co-produced with Jairus Mozee and featured horn arrangements by Jerry Hey. Concord released Honestly in early September; it generated three charting singles—the title track, which reached the Top 20, “On the Prowl,” which landed in the Top Five on both Smooth Jazz and Smooth AC charts, and “Tick Tock,” which hit number one—while the album itself spent four weeks at the summit of the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

Following an extended tour and a period of rest, James and his band returned to the studio in 2019 with eleven original compositions, three of which—“Full Effect,” “Tonic,” and the title track—grew from guitar licks that touring guitarist Kendall Gilder played during soundchecks. The first of four pre-release singles, “Be Here” featuring Kenny Lattimore, entered the Top 30 on the Adult R&B Songs chart. Solid, the album produced by James, appeared in June 2020. “Coastin’,” recorded with Lalah Hathaway, served as the lead single from 2022’s Detour, his eighteenth studio recording.

October 2024 brought the ten-track Slow Burn, recorded with his regular studio musicians and guest contributions from Marcus Miller, Cory Henry, Rick Braun, and contemporary R&B vocalist October London (Jared Samuel Erskine). The project also included versions of Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly” and Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar.”