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Sax player brings big ensemble for the 'Ride'

Friday, March 22, 2002

By Rick Nowlin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The last time the smooth jazz world saw saxophonist "Boney James" Oppenheim, he was coming off a highly successful collaboration with trumpeter/flugelhornist Rick Braun -- an album, "Shake It Up," and a tour that, unfortunately, never made it to Pittsburgh.

	Boney James WHERE: Byham Theater, Downtown. WHEN: Sunday at 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: $39.50; 412-456-6666.

In fact, before James hit the road for a 42-city tour that brings him to the Byham Theater Sunday night, "[Rick and I] just jammed together."

The man who received his nickname while on tour in Norway with Randy Crawford -- he announced to his bandmates he was considering skimping on food in order to save money -- performs in support of his latest solo CD, "Ride," his seventh for Warner Bros. Records. He particularly loves this recording "because of the songwriting."

"People tell me it's a much more urban sound -- I'm not conscious of that," James says, because his music has always featured heavy doses of "old-school" R&B. He still remains a fan of that genre, especially after his apprenticeships with Crawford, Teena Marie, Ray Parker Jr., the Isley Brothers and Morris Day and the Time, for which he originally played keyboards.

The song "Something Inside," which features vocalist Dave Hollinger, rose to No. 6 on the smooth jazz charts, and James says the title track, with vocalist Jaheim, will be next out of the gate.

James says that modern soul singers such as Maxwell, Angie Stone and Erykah Badu "are looking back to the '70s" because they're performing great songs. "Jaheim, he's got this voice like Teddy Pendergrass."

James admits to being enamored of the combination of jazz and funk. There was "Ronnie Laws, Grover [Washington Jr.], the Crusaders -- it was good jazz" but with a distinctive urban flavor.

But as for his own music, "In terms of structure, it's more R&B" -- not just the highly rhythmic up-tempo numbers but also the classic soul ballads, such as Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'," Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," Rufus' "Sweet Thing," that he and other "smooth jazz" artists have recorded since the invention of the radio format.

The Lowell, Mass., native, who moved to Los Angeles as a teen-ager, has another reason for feeling upbeat about Sunday's show.

"We're bringing our own production -- our own lights, our own stage, our own PA. It's a big step up for me," James says. "We're adding some of that visual element that we never had before. We always had a great show, but this one's a little more dramatic."

The band comprises keyboardist and longtime associate David Torkanowsky, guitarist/vocalist Rohn Lawrence, bassist/vocalist Larry Kimpel, drummer Ricardo Jordan, percussionist Machito and multi-instrumentalist Morris Pleasure, mostly on keyboards but also taking turns on bass -- while Kimpel is singing -- and trumpet, to do some tunes from "Shake It Up."

"That's one of the reasons I brought him on the tour," James says.

Anyway, the saxman refuses to pigeonhole himself as a jazz or R&B player. "It's just 'Boney James' music."