He was the house conductor and arranger for CTI/KUDU back in the
day. Incidently, he's got a home page on the web (just look up
Bob James on Yahoo for the address). It's got photos and a
complete dicography along with some bio. Kinda funny reading it
from a hip-hop vantage point. Someone once told me about an
interview he did on the topic of his music and hip-hop (forget
where it was published). When asked about his music's influence
on hip-hop he remarked that he had no idea where it came from.
But he seems to be down with (ie. accepting of) the music -
especially scratching. He was quoted (not sure if it's the
same interview) as saying that scratching is probably the most
innovative sound coming out of music today - that no other
instrument, electronic or otherwise, can imitate perfectly
the qualities of scratching. From Take me to the Mardi Gras
to Grand Master Flash to RUN DMC to the Invisible Scratch
Pickles - who would have predicted that back in the day -
especially when Take me to the Mardi Gras was originally a
Simon and Garfunkel tune. Bob James is not hip-hop but I can't
help but wonder if Hip-hop might have been the same if records
like Bob James' weren't available in the bargain bins of used
record shacks.
shanti,
ashwin
ashwin@visgen.com