Keyboardist Opts for Low-Key Acoustics

At a time when more electronic toys are available than ever, jazz keyboardist Bob James is returning to basics. On his new album, “Grand Piano Canyon,” James, who has often used synthesizers, does all of his improvising on an acoustic grand.

James plays the Bacchanal on Saturday night with a six-piece ensemble including rising star Kirk Whalum on sax and James’ musical collaborator, Max Risenhoover, on synthesizers.

In truth, James hasn’t given up electronics, but uses synthesizers in his band to paint rich, orchestral textures behind his acoustic improvisations. He hasn’t concentrated so strictly on acoustic piano since the early 1960s, when he made his first jazz albums after being discovered at a collegiate jazz festival by Quincy Jones.

James arrived in San Diego earlier this week to visit with his daughter Hilary, who is appearing in “Heartbeats” at the Old Globe Theatre, and with college buddy Jack O’Brien, the Globe’s artistic director.

James’ daughter introduced him to Risenhoover, who helped compose music for the new album.

“He was a student at the University of Michigan with Hilary, and they had a band together,” James said. “She told me how good he was at computer/synth/techno stuff. He’s a very talented composer, and he mixed several of the tunes on the album. In the live show, I take advantage of his background as a percussion player, and he also serves as a second synthesizer player.”

While the new album is being hailed as James’ return to acoustic piano, the transition actually began with the 1984 release of “Rameau,” a collection of classical pieces by the French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. James followed with classical albums featuring compositions by Scarlatti and Bach.

The music on “Grand Piano Canyon” is James at his best--the linear right-hand melodies, the sparse left-hand chords and the rich orchestral backgrounds, all arranged with a restraint that lets the acoustic piano shine.

James said his live shows include music from the new album and selections from several 1980s albums, including “Double Vision,” his gold record collaboration with saxophonist David Sanborn.

During a 25-year career, James has played on dozens of albums either as a leader or sideman, and written music for television, movies and theatrical productions.

A turning point came when he was hired as an arranger by producer Creed Taylor, who created a signature jazz sound at the CTI label during the mid-1970s. Impressed with James’ playing and arranging, Taylor eventually asked him to record several albums of his own.

The CTI days were heady times for James, arranging, composing and playing with heavies such as Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, Freddie Hubbard and Hubert Laws. CTI’s calculated, polished studio sound might be taken for granted today, but 15 years ago, lavishing such attention on jazz was revolutionary, paving the way for today’s slick pop/jazz.

“Creed Taylor’s sound was unique in an era when most jazz was done with low budgets and minimal instrumentation,” James said. “The pattern was to hire the players, spend a day in the studio improvising and put out the album. Creed decided that to compete with pop music, with its large budgets, he would employ the same strategy with jazz artists.

“That’s where people like me came into the scene. He wanted to have an arranger and expand the tunes to include larger ensembles, even strings.”

James thinks the CTI recordings, most of them now re-issued as CDs, hold up extremely well against the 1990 breed of radio-ready pop/jazz. One reason is that many of today’s “contemporary jazz” artists have no roots in traditional jazz, James said. By contrast, players like Hubbard and Washington only went pop/jazz at CTI after several years as pure mainstream players.

After making his second acoustic jazz trio album in 1965, James didn’t record an album of his own again until he made the first of four albums for CTI in 1974.

In between, he went through “10 years of relative obscurity,” serving as musical director and accompanist to singer Sarah Vaughan, writing commercial jingles and scoring such New York theatrical productions as “Edward II” and “The Merchant of Venice.”

In 1976, James went to CBS Records as a talent scout, and eventually lured such CTI artists as Gale and Laws to sign with CBS. In 1977, he formed his own label, Tappen Zee, and signed artists such as pianist Joanne Brackeen, while continuing his own recording career with albums such as “Heads,” “Touchdown” and “One on One,” a collaboration with guitarist Earl Klugh.

“Touchdown” and “One on One” both went gold and won Grammies. The next three albums, “Lucky Seven,” “H” and “Sign of the Times,” recorded between 1979 and 1981, all hit No. 1 on jazz charts.

While James recorded steadily through the 1980s, one of his favorite side projects was writing the theme music for the television show, “Taxi.” With the show in constant reruns, he still receives royalties.

James also wrote music for the movies “Serpico” and “The King of Comedy.”

While in San Diego, he is staying at O’Brien’s house, and the two played golf together at several San Diego courses. James shoots in the mid-80s.

The pair met as freshmen at the University of Michigan, where they penned two musicals together. Since then, they have teamed on several projects, including the 1972 Broadway musical, “The Selling of the President,” adapted from the Joe McGinniss book about Richard Nixon’s campaign.

“Our show came out when he was at the height of his popularity,” James said. “Watergate didn’t happen until a year later. The public would have been far more ready to watch a biting satire about that whole election process.”