OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 | 17 continued on page 18 And now, he’s still making some of the best music of his life. “I’m very lucky and grateful to be still making the music I love and being healthy enough to keep looking ahead to my work with my quartet and whatever comes a er,” said the 85-year-old, two-time Grammy winner and 19-time nominee via phone from his home in Michigan. “I’m as proud of the new music as I was of the music back in the ’70s and ’80s.” Earlier this year, he released a triumphant collaboration with Dave Koz, Just Us, an unadorned, acoustic set of songs the saxophonist and pianist recorded in the latter’s home without any production embellishments. “We felt a great simpatico,” James said of the recording process of the beautiful, nuanced album. “What made it especially vulnerable and meaningful was that we were in my living room with no real production, no click tracks, backing tracks, or any of the trappings we have in the music business these days. “Just the two of us playing to our own dynamic. We didn’t even have headphones on, so it was very vulnerable with no place to hide. I had never been in that situation before when I was playing with Dave, and I felt I could really get to know Dave as a musician with his pure, unenhanced sound. It was just two musicians playing.” James spoke enthusiastically about his personal and musical relationships with his friend Koz, whom he had collaborated with on other records through guest spots on each other’s songs. ey’ve known each other for many years but never had the opportunity to make a full album together. “Dave has a great sense of communication. He’s not someone who likes to ignore the audience and play for his own muse—he loves communicating,” James added. “I appreciate how he prepares. He was not particularly comfortable with being loose. He always wanted to know where we were headed. I tend to love the unknown, even in performance. I relish those moments, and I had to convince him it was OK. He got into the spirit of the moment. Some of those unpredictable passages became the highlights.” One of the mistakes people make in life is believing that learning new things is for young people, so they shut themselves o to new ideas. e veteran musician said one of the keys to his longevity and success is his boundless curiosity and eagerness to absorb things from other musicians like Koz. “One of the favorite things about what I do is learning from the musicians I work with,” he said. “Once I stop, then it’s time to retire. All musicians work in their own ways, so I have to remain open to things. “ ey talk about how older people get set in their ways because they’ve gured things out, but that’s not how I approach music or my life, for that matter. I still take risks, and each project and tour should have danger to it. is project with Dave Koz was no exception to that.” e multihyphenate musician is excited about his new jazz quartet, which he said is challenging him and helping expand his musical vision. “I’ve been touring with a quartet the last couple of years, and they contributed a little bit to my last album, Jazz Hands, but I hope to have them better represented on my next record with the sound we have developed during our live shows. “I brought them to my home, where I worked on the project with Dave, and a couple of months ago, we spent a week working on new tunes that will hopefully showcase these three young guys—bass player Michael Palazzolo, drummer James Adkins, and the wonderful saxophonist Andrey Chmut, from Ukraine. All of them are in their early 30s and bringing some youthful spirit to my music. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m very happy with what we are doing.” While he looked ahead to touring with the quartet, a new album and other projects and milestones—his collaboration with Koz will undoubtedly earn them both a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album—he also re ected on some of the highlights from his extraordinary career in jazz. “ e standard milestones of the music industry, like Grammy nominations or awards, are not the most memorable, even though you are thrilled to get them,” he maintained. “ e highlights for me are getting the respect from other musicians and having the opportunity to collaborate with so many wonderfully talented people—and we could be here all day if I named all the great talents—but the members of Fourplay, whom I played with for 25-30 years, remain so big in my memory. “Harvey Mason being the one I have been most closely associated with since way back in the 1970s when he played on my What made it especially vulnerable and meaningful was that we were in my living room with no real production, no click tracks, backing tracks, or any of the trappings we have in the music business these days. Just the two of us playing to our own dynamic. Bob James and Dave Koz at James' Michigan home during their recording of Just Us PHOTO: TYLER FRANZ
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