Boney James

Boney James
a.k.a. James Oppenheim

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Boney James
Saxophonist Boney James has paid his dues. As the story goes, this instrumental superstar was once so low on food funds that a musician buddy dubbed him "Boney" James - - as in, if he eat any less that's all he'd be. Those "good old days" are long over. Hit recordings, including SEDUCTION and SWEET THING, have since become de rigueur for James, a sensual player whose horn speaks of powerful emotions. BODY LANGUAGE, his latest smooth jazz chart-topper, is as seductive, and lusty, as ever. Here, the boney-one reveals to barnesandnoble.com's Lucy Tauss his own musical passions.

barnesandnoble.com: What album changed your life?

Boney James: Boy, there's so many albums I could say changed my life. My life is continuing to change, even as we speak. It was a hotbed of musical change back in 1975-76. I think in that year I heard, consecutively, Grover Washington Jr.'s MR. MAGIC, and soon thereafter the Pat Metheny Group's first record came out, and soon thereafter Jeff Lorber Fusion came out. So those three things -- and Spyro Gyra's "Shaker Song" and "Morning Dance" -- all that stuff hit me within a span of a year and a half or two years, when I was first getting into playing the saxophone. And the realization that being a sax player and being interested in jazz could also mean being interested in contemporary music or having a spirit of fun and not so serious and intellectual.

bn: What album do you wish you had played on?

BJ: Hm. I wanted to play on every record.

bn: Well, let me follow that up. When you were a kid, when you were a young player and an avid music listener, was that a -- I don't want to use the word "fantasy," but did you dream of doing that?

BJ: Oh, definitely fantasizing, and a big part of my musical development was playing along with my favorite records, and that's what I did. And I would learn solos and I would stay in my room, and I had LPs, of course, and I would just play along with them and jam and picture myself doing it. And every time I went to a concert, I pictured myself up onstage.

bn: What is the sexiest song ever?

BJ: Sexiest song ever. Well, I couldn't really pick one of my own songs.

bn: Why not?

BJ: Ohhh... [laughs] Maybe it's a cross between "Lights Down Low" [from SEDUCTION (1995)] and John Klemmer's "Touch." They just have a certain soothing, sensual quality to them, I suppose. They definitely ease the world away, hopefully, and allow you just to concentrate on the business at hand [laughs].

bn: What's the best music to drive to?

BJ: You know what's a great song to drive to? And I had a great driving experience with this song just powering out. It's the Allman Brothers' "Jessica." Remember that? It's an instrumental groove. When I was a real young kid I thought, "Wow, this is so cool. There's no singing on it." I think that was one of my first entrees to instrumental music, but that's a classic [sings the hook].

bn: What do you listen to when you're depressed or to cheer you up or to unwind?

BJ: I like classical music, honestly. That's the most relaxing music for me. If I'm really stressed out, I'll listen to some classical music, some Bach or something or Mozart -- anything like that. I find that very soothing. And it's unrelated to work, as well.

bn: Who have you fallen in love with based solely on their album cover?

BJ: Carly Simon. What was it -- - I can't remember the name of the record. She's wearing a floppy hat and a tight shirt and tight jeans. [It's NO SECRETS (1972).]

bn: Have you ever met her?

BJ: Never met her. But I still have a big crush on her from that album cover.