Boney James e Lalah Hathaway

Born James Oppenheim, the young James had discovered the joys of jazz music by a very early age, taking up the clarinet at the tender age of eight before switching to the saxophone by the time he was 10. However, it wasn’t until his family upped sticks from New York to Los Angeles when James was 14 that he started performing live around the jazz clubs of his new home state. As time went on James began to pick up other instruments, and after he’d finished his history degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1985 he became a session keyboardist, joining the backing band of R&B legend Morris Day.

While on tour with Day he convinced his paymaster to let him switch from keys to his primary instrument, the sax. After Day agreed, James’ name began to spread about his mastery on the tenor, alto and soprano Sax, alongside his considerable skills on keys and the flute. After leaving Day’s band, his clients included everyone from the Isley Brothers to Teena Marie and Sheena Easton, but it was while he was on tour with Randy Crawford in 1986 that he picked up his stage name. See, all this performing didn’t lead to enormous pay-checks, and James said to a fellow band member that he was running out of food money.His bandmate replied that if he started eating any less "We'll have to start calling you Boney James!".

James took the name to heart and has used it as a stage name ever since. Years passed going from backing band to backing band, but everything would change in the early 90’s, when his playing caught the attention of an engineer and producer called Paul Brown while playing in Bobby Caldwell’s band. Brown was so taken with his playing and the music that he wrote that he negotiated a contract with the independent label Spindletop Records for James and by 1992, James’ first solo album “Trust”, was released. For an independent album released before the internet revolution, it was a hit, one big enough to snag James a major label deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Since then, James has become one of the most respected jazz artists of his generation, consistently releasing great albums, collaborating with everyone under the sun and even having three of his albums go gold. Even a car crash in 2010 that fractured his jaw and shattered two of his teeth couldn’t keep him out of commission for longer than two months. He’s a true artist that has never been anywhere other than the top of his game, and in the highly competitive world of jazz, one that demands the very best out of everyone who performs in it, that’s a very rare thing indeed. Highly recommended.

As the daughter of soul singer Donny Hathaway, Lalah was destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps, through her versatile, dynamic and technically strong voice. She arrived on the music scene in 1990, with her self-titled debut album, impressing listeners right from the start. The release was a commercial success, gaining a top ten single with “Heaven Knows, which peaked at number three on the Billboard R&B charts, with the album itself peaking at number 191 on the Billboard Hot 200. This was followed by 1994’s “A Moment,” which again drew positive critical acclaim, with the album debuting at number 34 on the R&B charts.

After this initial success, Hathaway took a break from recording music, not returning until 1999, where she collaborated with legendary jazzman, Joe Sample for the GRP album, “The Song Lives On.” Into the new millennium, Hathaway released a steady stream of records, with 2004’s “Outrun the Sky” (Sanctuary Records), “Self Portrait” (2008, Stax) and “Where It All Begins” (2011, Stax). These releases continued to prompt praise from critics for Hathaway’s talent and diversity in her music, collaborating with the likes of Mike City, Rahsaan Patterson, Rex Rudest and Dre & Vidal. “Self Portrait” and “Where It All Begins” were Hathaway’s most successful releases, peaking at number 63 and number 32 respectively, in the Billboard Hot 200 Chart.

Widely regarded as on of the finest vocalists of her generation, Hathaway made the perfect choice for her collaboration with R&B/Soul outfit, Snarky Puppy. Working together on the song, “Something” in 2013, the partnership went on to secure Hathaway with her first Grammy Award, receiving the award for ‘Best R&B Performance’ at the 2014 awards.