Slow Burn Boney James

• 1 Arcadia 04:31
• 2 Butterfly 04:27
• 3 Slow Burn 04:13
• 4 All I Want Is You 03:20
• 5 Slide 03:55
• 6 A Little Romance 04:05
• 7 Gonna Have A Good Time 04:27
• 8 The Bounce 04:16
• 9 Between The Lines 04:12
• 10 Sugar 04:20
• Total Runtime 41:46

Info for Slow Burn

Boney James is a four-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer with a career spanning over three decades. Known for his blend of smooth jazz, R&B, and funk, James has earned accolades such as a Soul Train Award and multiple NAACP Image Award nominations, and in 2024 became the first artist to achieve 20 number-one singles on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart.

Slow Burn: A feeling that grows with a slow but deliberate intensity. That sums up Boney James’ music, career and the vibe of his newest album. The iconic 4x Grammy nominated sax man’s 19th album is another deliberate step on his creative journey. Featuring legendary Jazz/R&B artists Marcus Miller and Cory Henry, the record also spotlights R&B’s next superstar October London. With 10 songs, 8 originals plus homages to Herbie Hancock and Stanley Turrentine, Slow Burn is Boney James at his best.

Slow Burn includes an impressive list of guest collaborators, starting with the legendary bass player Marcus Miller on “Arcadia.” Miller appears again on “Butterfly,” a remake of the Herbie Hancock and Bennie Maupin classic, along with internationally renowned jazz/gospel keyboardist Cory Henry. Multi-instrumentalist Jairus Mozee (Anderson.Paak, Anthony Hamilton, Nikki Minaj, etc.) co-wrote and co-produced four tracks on the album with Boney, including title track “Slow Burn.” As for the sultry first single “All I Want Is You” featuring rising R&B vocalist October London, James proclaims the track to be “one of the most exciting vocal collaborations I’ve ever recorded.”

“When I mentioned that phrase to people as a possible title, they said, “That also refers to your whole career in a way” James says with a laugh. “This is my 19th record and I feel like I’m just hitting my stride.”

Slow Burn is a new high point in a remarkable career that now spans more than three decades and includes a long list of accolades; four GRAMMY nominations, three NAACP Image Award nominations, a Soul Train Award for Best Jazz Album and four RIAA Gold Record certifications. In 2009, Billboard named James one of the Top 3 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the decade. In 2024 year Boney became the first ever artist to score 20 number one singles on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart.

But Boney James has never been one to look backwards and Slow Burn, which the artist produced, marks several firsts. Beginning with the album’s opening track, ‘Arcadia.’ The very first notes on the album are the acoustic bass playing of the legendary Marcus Miller. It’s one of the few times that Miller, known for his electric bass guitar work, has committed his standup bass playing to a recording and the first time that James has incorporated an upright bass into his own music

Next is James’ intriguing interpretation of the classic ‘Butterfly.’ Co-written by master keyboardist Herbie Hancock and Bennie Maupin, the track features Marcus Miller again as well as young lion Cory Henry’s inspired electric piano. “This beautiful melody got stuck in my head” explains James. “I have never covered a tune by a legend like Herbie before and I hope we did him justice.”

The title track, ‘Slow Burn,’ is one of four tunes on the album that James co-wrote and co produced with multi-instrumentalist Jairus Mozee ( known for his work with Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton and Nikki Minaj etc.).

Another prominent guest artist, rising-star R&B vocalist October London, best known for his 2023 hit The Rebirth Of Marvin is featured on the first single from the album, ‘All I Want Is You.’ Says James, “It’s one of the most exciting vocal collaborations I’ve ever recorded.”

The funky ‘Slide’ features Boney on tenor saxophone and keyboards, backed by all the member of his crack touring band. “This song has a little Minneapolis feel,” says James. “I got my start as a professional musician touring with Morris Day, but this is the first time I’ve copped this groove.”

The Slow Burn continues with ‘A Little Romance,’ which James calls “a very heartfelt performance from the saxophone; it’s romantic, hence the name.”

Both ‘Gonna Have a Good Time’ and ‘The Bounce’ keep the mood upbeat. Says James about the latter, “When I listen to it, I start doing this little bounce. It just puts a big smile on my face.”

The penultimate track on Slow Burn is ‘Between the Lines,’ followed by a grooving take on saxophonist Stanley Turrentine’s ‘Sugar,’ featuring longtime friend and collaborator Rick Braun on trumpet.

“I’ve always loved this song. It was a really fun and special way to pay homage to Stanley Turrentine, who was a definite influence on me,” says James.

Slow Burn follows two of the most successful albums of James’ career, 2020’s Solid and 2022’s Detour which debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart.

James is, of course, thrilled that his music continues to reach new audiences more than thirty years after he released his debut album, Trust, in 1992. “It’s always been my goal to be one of those guys that would just keep doing it at a high level,” he says, “and to have that connection with the audience.”

That’s what it’s always been about for Boney James. Growing up in New Rochelle, New York, James played clarinet in his school band, but two years later, he says, “The teacher needed a sax player. As soon as I switched, playing it became my favorite thing to do.”

By the time he entered his teens, James was already gigging with bands, and he turned pro at 19. After years of paying his dues with artists like The Isley Brothers, Teena Marie and many more, Boney cut his first album on an independent label, which led immediately to a major label deal and a string of increasingly successful recordings and nonstop touring.

Now residing in Los Angeles with wife, director Lily Mariye, James says, “I wake up each day and try to play a little better. To quote the cellist Pablo Casals ‘I think I’m making progress.’ I am really proud of my playing on this new record. And I absolutely love the songs and the sound I achieved.”

Some might say it has a Slow Burn: a deliberate intensity.

Boney James

Boney James
4-time GRAMMY nominee and multi-platinum selling sax-man Boney James continues his artistic evolution with the dynamic futuresoul. Fusing his love for vintage soul music with his mastery of modern production, Boney has created another genre-bending work following on the heels of his 2014 GRAMMY nominated album The Beat.

“The forms I’m working with are rooted in my early influences,” says James, dropping names like King Curtis, the Stylistics and Earth, Wind & Fire. “But recently I’ve been listening to contemporary artists like Tinashé, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding, and I’m inspired by the sound of their recordings. The production is so cool and evocative. As I started the new record, I was in my backyard studio messing around with this “gearhead” stuff I’ve collected. Ideas started flowing and it sounded like modern soul music to me. I thought to myself, ‘What is this?’… And then it hit me: ‘futuresoul.’”

His 15th CD, futuresoul contains 10 original songs produced and written or co-written by James. Released by Concord Records May 4, 2015, futuresoul features vocalist and Mint Condition frontman Stokley on “Either Way,” a collaboration enabled by Twitter. Says James, “Like my recent duet with Raheem DeVaughn, I was able to meet Stokley on Twitter and send him the music for this track. He wrote the brilliant lyric and sent me a finished vocal all via email!”

Also featured is rising-star trumpet player Marquis Hill (2014 winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition) on the plaintive “Far From Home.”

Other notable collabs on the record are title-cut “futuresoul,” co-written and co-produced by neo-soul mainstay Dwele, and “Drumline” and “Watcha Gon’ Do About It?” with co-writer/co-producer Jairus Mozee (Anthony Hamilton, Robin Thicke).

futuresoul is the follow-up to The Beat (2013), nominated for the GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental Album, which prompted The New York Times to praise “The relaxed charisma of Mr. James’ tone…“

“Tone, or the ‘sound’ of my horn, is really crucial to me,” says James. “I practice my saxophone in my backyard studio every day when I’m not on the road. I’m still dedicated to trying to be a better player. I spend much of my time with a keyboard next to me and a computer behind me,” he continues. “So when I get a creative idea, I’ll reach over to the keyboard and pick out a few notes or record myself singing a melody. I start gathering pieces. Then I’ll build on them and gradually they’ll turn into songs. I get more and more excited and start spending 14-hour days out there. Before I know it, I’ve made an album. It’s amazing how it happens – like a ball rolling down a hill, it develops its own momentum.”

Of course this process would not be possible if James weren’t so skilled with the production technology – he says he views digital production as an instrument in itself. He almost certainly could not have imagined such a thing when, at age eight, he picked up his first instrument: the clarinet. “I really wanted to play the trumpet, but when we went to the local music store, all they had were clarinets,” he explains. “I had to have something that day, so I took one home. The saxophone came up two years later because there were so many clarinet players in the band. My teacher kind of leaned on me to switch,” James laughs. “It was fate.”

The ‘Analog’ tone of the Sax combined with the ‘Digital’ sounds of modern production contribute to the sonic tension that fuels futuresoul.

Boney says, “The track ‘Vinyl’ really embodies the blending of retro and modern,” as it represents the first time he has sampled a classic record.

'What you hear in the chorus,' he notes, 'is a ‘filtered’ piece of the Stylistics song ‘People Make The World Go Round.’'

Born in Lowell, Mass. and raised in New Rochelle, NY, Boney became seriously interested in music in the mid 70’s, a very vibrant and freewheeling period for popular music. “You could hear different genres all over the radio. Contemporary jazz was everywhere – people like Grover Washington Jr., Herbie Hancock and George Benson were stars,” he marvels. “Artists like Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire were incorporating jazz into what they were doing, and the jazz guys were mixing R&B into their sound. It was a great time to be a young musician.”

By 13, James – born James Oppenheim and nicknamed “Boney” in his mid–20’s when a meager touring per diem saw him growing thinner – was jamming in basements and garages. One summer during college, he found himself sitting in with some friends at a club. “Playing in a real club, with the energy of a real audience was such a fantastic rush,” he remembers. “That was the spark for my decision to become a professional musician.”

Following early pro gigs, (including sideman stints with Morris Day, The Isley Brothers, Randy Crawford and Teena Marie) James released his debut album as a leader, Trust, in 1992.

Over the following 23 years James has racked up sales of more than 3 million records, four RIAA gold albums, four GRAMMY nominations, a Soul Train Award, nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and 10 CD’s atop the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. In 2009 Billboard Magazine named him the #3 Contemporary Jazz Artist Of The Decade (trailing just Kenny G and Norah Jones).

What’s in the future for futuresoul? Already making inroads at radio with the funky “Drumline” and the sultry “Either Way,” Boney will hit the road mid 2015 and continue touring throughout 2016.

James says, “When people ask me what category my music falls under, I always say, ‘It’s Boney James music’.”

Known for blurring the lines between genres, with futuresoul, Boney is doing the same between eras.

Let’s just call it “retro music for a modern age.”

This album contains no booklet.