Genre-blurring Boney James to bring saxophonic grooves to Newport Beach

By Ben BrazilStaff Writer

Sept. 25, 2018 4:20 PM PT

Share via
- Facebook
- X
- Email

Obsession is a necessary ingredient of any great musician.

It drove Ludwig van Beethoven to continue composing with severe hearing loss.

It drove saxophonist Charlie Parker to pracitice up to 15 hours a day.

And it drove gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt to renown, despite only having the use of three fingers on his left hand.

“It has to be an obsession,” said saxophonist Boney James, who will perform Oct. 12 in Newport Beach. “It’s a lifetime of study, and if you aren’t getting better then you are sliding backwards.”

Obsession has made a mark in James’ life, resulting in 16 albums that have sold more than 3 million copies and earned four Grammy nominations.

Growing up in New York, his father was an attorney for Columbia Records. LPs were all over the house.

James picked up the clarinet at 8 years old. It didn’t take long for him to switch to saxophone.

“As soon as I started playing, it became my favorite thing to do and still is to this day,” said James, 57, who now lives in Los Angeles.

James plays alto, tenor and soprano sax, though the tenor is his primary instrument.

Many see the saxophone as the iconic instrument of jazz, but James has been hooked to R&B since the beginning. In his formative years, many tried to steer James toward playing in the styles of Parker and John Coltrane, but he resisted.

While he admired the jazz giants and their musicianship, it wasn’t his kind of music. Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield and Grover Washington Jr. — a founder of smooth jazz — were his type of players.

“That was what got me excited about music,” James said. “I think of myself as an R&B player who happens to play saxophone.”

James doesn’t like to classify his music, and critics generally consider his work genre-blurring.

“People assume if you are carrying a saxophone that you are playing jazz,” James said. “There are elements of jazz in the music, like improvisation and instrumental breaks, but I would prefer people listen to it as an individual thing. I’d prefer to call it Boney James music.”

James plans to perform his 16th album, “Honestly,” at the Newport Beach concert. The record reached the top spot on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart — where he has 15 No. 1 hits — in September 2017.

The album title is meant to convey what he believes is the most difficult, but essential, part of making music.

“I think it’s a challenge to stay honest,” James said. “You have to stay in touch with that honest part of yourself when you are writing songs. Many artists go the other way and just phone it in. You can’t fall back on familiarity.”