Bob James - 12 (1984)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD.

Now here's an impulse buy that I made purely for reasons of nostalgia. It's good not great, but I picked up a used LP while I was a college freshman in early 1985, playing it in my drafty dorm room on the Fisher stereo my parents gave me to celebrate my graduation from high school the previous year. You get the picture. Sometimes a nostalgic reunion with sorta familiar music from your distant past is exactly what you need.

The album is particularly notable for being the recording debut of saxophonist Kirk Whalum. Whalum's contributions were enough to make me seek out some of his later solo albums, including his 1985 solo debut, Floppy Disc. Definitely of its time, 12 is overproduced and heavily relies on mid-eighties studio tropes. The result is fairly safe music; one of those albums where good musicians were 'professionally' prevented from making waves.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "reliably tight, accessible crossover fare built around strong pop melodies with gusts of r&b and funk."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #136
• Billboard Jazz: #5
• Billboard R&B: #67
• CashBox: #129
• CashBox Jazz: #5
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #5

Tracks: The opener is a hard-driving shuffle that falls just short because of the overly-busy arrangement. I was previously familiar with the second track, Courtship, from its in inclusion on The Official Music of the XXIII Olympiad Los Angeles 1984 compilation album. It's the best track on the album. The two later tracks that feature Whalum are very good as well: Ruby Ruby Ruby and, in particular, Midnight. The worse track is Moonbop.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: See above. I don't remember playing this album after my freshman year, so it brings back particular memories of those two semesters. (More on those times here and here.) Looking back, I feel I was well-prepared for college academically and emotionally. However, I was socially immature and very much so. I was particularly ill-prepared for the onslaught of women at the time seeking their "MRS degree." Somehow, I slogged through that year, had a great summer in 1985, and things improved greatly in the fall of 1985 when I started dating my future wife, who was in no hurry to get married. In fact, we never even discussed marriage until I proposed in March, 1989. A lack of communication and planning probably isn't the recommended way to start a marriage, but since we've been wed for over 37 years, that method somehow worked for us. But I happily digress...

Previously revisited for the blog:
Playin' Hooky (1997)
with Earl Klugh - Cool (1992)
with David Sanborn - Double Vision (1986)
Rameau (1984)
with Earl Klugh - Two of a Kind (1982)