Favorite Things host Pat Prescott sits down with saxophonist Boney James to talk about his new album, Simple Man.
Boney is one of the enduring stewards of a much richer tradition of jazz-informed R&B and soul, and the new album, out October 2, makes that case particularly well.
Ledisi joins him on the contemporary R&B duet “I Belong To You,” while acclaimed trumpeter Marquis Hill appears on “Morocco” and guitar legend Larry Carlton guests on“Storybook.” Perhaps most revealing is Boney’s take on Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood”: rather than treating it as a museum piece, he rebuilds the standard around a D’Angelo-inspired groove. It’s essentially the Boney James musical philosophy in one song — deep respect for jazz history, filtered through an R&B sensibility entirely his own.
