No Plain James : Boney, a Nickname He Got During Lean Years as a Touring Musician, Stuck; Now He wants to Make His Name as a Saxman With ‘Backbone’

Saxophonist Boney James is familiar with the difficult life of a touring musician. In fact, it was during a low-paying overseas stint that he picked up his nickname.

He was born James Oppenheim in 1961 in Lowell, Mass., and spent a number of years in the ‘80s toiling for the likes of the Isley Brothers, Sheena Easton, Bobby Caldwell and Teena Marie. It was during a 1987 European tour with vocalist Randy Crawford that the name he now carries surfaced.

“We were in Norway--Randy’s real big over there--doing an extended gig, and it was only paying $30 a day, which didn’t cut it,” said James, who plays the Galaxy Concert Theatre tonight on a1651076204to save some money. They said I’d end up being ‘Boney’ James.

“So Sekou Bunch, the bass player on the tour, kept introducing me as ‘Boney.’ The next thing I knew, I had a nickname.”

It didn’t become his performing name until James cut his first album.

“I had to make a decision about it,” James said. “A lot of my musician friends thought of me as Boney, and the record company said that Oppenheim was not very catchy and that we needed to do something with the name. I said I had a nickname, and when I told them what it was, they loved it. I decided ‘What the heck?’ I’m used to it now. I think it actually intrigues people.”

We’ll never know whether James’ career would have taken off so quickly had his recordings carried his birth name, but there’s no denying that as “Boney” the saxophonist has done rather well.

James started playing the clarinet at 8 and the saxophone at 10. The family moved from Lowell to New Rochelle, N.Y., and then, in 1975, to Los Angeles. At 19, while earning a history degree at UCLA, he started playing in the fusion band Line One.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. We opened for groups like Kitty Hawk, Flora Purim and Airto and the Yellowjackets. We basically (were no good), I’m sure, but we had fun.”

James worked in a pizza joint to make ends meet but was looking into becoming a musician full time. He auditioned for Prince associate Morris Day’s band as a keyboardist in 1985 and got the gig.

*

Once James was inside the session scene, his fame began to spread, and he was called for a number of funk and pop gigs, doubling on sax and keyboards. In the meantime, he was making demo tapes in his home studio in the hopes of establishing a solo career.

While James was on the road in Japan with multi-instrumentalist Caldwell, the chance came. Caldwell’s engineer, who had also produced albums for guitarist Marcos Loya and saxophonist Sam Riney, began to show an interest.

“And one day he called me and asked if I wanted to do a record,” James said. “The next thing I knew, I was in the studio cutting these songs.”

The result was “Trust,” released by Spindletop Records in 1992, an album that got substantial radio play and worked its way onto the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. But the success proved to be short-lived.

“Spindletop went bankrupt (and) the record just disappeared,” James said. “It kept getting airplay, but people just couldn’t find it to buy.”

But it didn’t take long for James to land another, this time bigger, deal. Warner Bros. picked up “Trust” and reissued it this year. The label also released the saxophonist’s most recent effort, “Backbone,” which features guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. and percussionist Lenny Castro. The new disc has spent 25 weeks on the Billboard jazz chart.

James’ appeal is easy to understand. Accessible beats and tunes strong on melody make his work well suited to the Adult Contemporary market.

“What I do best is take a bass line and make a whole pop opus out of it,” James said.

His influences have largely determined his direction.

“I’ve listened to a big conglomeration of things. (Growing up) I was really into Yes, Jethro Tull--the more musical bands that like to jam during the instrumental sections, like the Allman Brothers. As a kid, I really loved Barry White & the Love Unlimited Orchestra. It was funky and had those big instrumental sections. I thought this is really something.”

“Then I heard Chick Corea’s ‘No Mystery’ and got into fusion, people like Joe Farrell, Grover Washington Jr., L.A. Express, Ronnie Laws--I really admired Ronnie Laws--and Pat Metheny’s first album for ECM.

“Of the contemporary sax players, I really like Kirk Whalum. He’s very emotional, very spiritual. I like sax playing that comes from an emotional, rather than a technical, place. Sure, I’ve listened to Michael Brecker and said, ‘Isn’t this great,’ and transcribed the solos. But I like stuff that’s much more song-oriented, melody-based stuff with phrases that are eloquently stated.”

*

Just this week James has started to record his third album, which he hopes will be released by May or June. Though he still does the infrequent session supporting other players, his commitment, he said, is to his own career.

“Making records is a blast, an intensely satisfying thing to do,” he said. “My main goal right now is to make myself a viable solo performer. I don’t want to be considered a pop artist like Dave Koz and Kenny G. I’m not interested in that kind of success. But I am interested in making music.”

* Boney James and Norman Brown appear tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana; 8 p.m. $19.50 . (714) 957-0600.