With a 22-piece orchestra in tow, popular R&B/soul saxophonist Boney James promises departure from his regular synthesized mode on Body Language (Warner Bros. 9 47283-2; 42:20). To a certain extent, the promise is fulfilled with the pumping retro-’70s romp “Love Fest” boasting an orchestral intro and Latin-tinged ornaments, and the lovely “Into the Blue,” which utilizes both the live strings and some excellent piano work from frequent collaborator David Torkanowsky to build a feeling of flight. With that said, fans will be happy to know that the familiar James elements are also present-“Are You Ready?” is a bland atmosphere track highlighted only by James’ willowy soprano line, and the slickly produced “I’ll Always Love You,” though decent for its type, is essentially a tingly pop R&B dripper featuring the band Shai. More promise lies in a dark blue read of Janet Jackson’s “I Get Lonely,” which finds James riffing and musing in an electric old-soul mode.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro