 Jazz Legend Bob James Breaks New Musical Ground With The Korg KarmaKorgPosted 2003-06-03 Since his first solo album in 1974, Bob James has been a trendsetter with his customized mix of jazz, light-funk, pop, and classical music. James has won numerous awards throughout the years, and he remains at the forefront of musical innovation, always eager to experiment with new tools and techniques.
James’ new album, Morning, Noon and Night, fuses traditional jazz roots with some unexpected hip hop elements. DJ Rob Swift, of the prolific turntablist group The X-ecutioners, appears on the first song, “Street Smart.” Another new element on the album is the Korg Karma music workstation. James was introduced to Karma last year while in the studio with Fourplay, the influential jazz quartet he’s played with since 1991. James explains, “It was love at first sight. Every patch I tried triggered a creative idea. It’s a great instrument — you power on, touch a button, and you’ve immediately got things happening.”
Collaborating with Rob Swift and employing Karma in the studio inspired James to add a surprise twist to his live solo shows — there’s no drummer or bassist in his current backing band. All drum and bass parts are courtesy of Karma, with Rob Swift providing additional “drum beats” and scratches on his turntables. James recently used this new setup in Japan and remarks, “I’ve performed my song ’Westchester Lady’ thousands of times with every different kind of instrumentation — trio, big band, quintet, you name it. I thought it would be fun to perform it without a drummer by using some patches on the Karma as drum loops to mix things up a bit. I used Karma bass patches too, and as I played different notes, the bass pattern automatically changed with me.” He adds, “Another thing I love is the tap tempo feature. When Rob Swift was playing something, I used it to easily find the tempo and start a loop. That was very powerful.”
James concludes, “No matter what the style is, each Karma patch gives you a really nice head start for composing and performing. Part of what excites me about jazz is the unpredictable nature of it, and the Karma is the perfect synthesizer to use for creating those unpredictable musical phrases.”
For the latest news on Bob James, check out www.bobjames.com.
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