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Boney James is the tenor sax king of contemporary R&B/jazz, and Christmas Present does nothing to dislodge the crown on his head. This slick album is a rewarding follow-up to his Boney's Funky Christmas, an album originally released more than ten years ago. His new release is sassy and sweetly seductive.

Although Christmas Present is largely an instrumental offering, Boney appears here with R&B vocalists Chante Moore, Angie Stone, and Anthony Hamilton. Moore does a beautifully breathy, slyly sexy Santa Baby, while Stone's Merry Christmas Baby is more uptempo and funkalicious. Hamilton does a bluesy and somewhat subdued (at least until the closing bars) turn on the gospel-imbued Silent Night, keeping Boney's smokin' sax at center stage. Trumpeter Rick Braun joins the fun on The First Noel, providing some subtle interplay with Boney's sax. Two of my favorite tracks are the smart opening Skating with sax harmonies and free-form improvisation sliding across the frozen pond, and Joni Mitchell's River with its minimalist just-soprano-saxophone-and-keyboards approach.

Boney James is as an urban jazz icon, but Christmas Present is more smooth than edgy; the nicely-developed holiday tracks (most are over four minutes) on this release will easily appeal to a broad audience. Let Boney's superb sax roast your chestnuts this season (no open fire required). Cuddle and enjoy!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)

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From the liner notes:

Boney James: soprano saxophone, keyboards
Alex Al: bass
Rick Braun: flugelhorn
Teddy Campbell: drums
Tim Carmon: organ, clavinet, piano, keyboards
Lenny Castro: percussion
Eric Daniels: Rhodes
Phil Davis: keyboards, Rhodes
Anthony Hamilton: vocal ("Silent Night")
Paul Jackson, Jr.: guitar solo, acoustic guitar
Tony Maiden: electric guitar, guitar
Chante Moore: vocal ("Santa Baby")
Dean Parks: guitars
Darrell Smith: keyboards
Angie Stone: vocal ("Merry Christmas Baby")
Dave Weckl: drums, brushes

Produced by Boney James


From the Website:

Urban Jazz sax icon Boney James follows his Top 10 R&B and #1 Contemporary Jazz album Shine with a stirring new collection of holiday classics. The album finds James teaming up with fellow Grammy nominees Anthony Hamilton (on the holiday standard "Silent Night") and Angie Stone (on an update of the Charles Brown chestnut "Merry Christmas, Baby").

Also featured on the album are soul songstress Chanté Moore on the Eartha Kitt hit "Santa Baby" and former James collaborator, contemporary jazz trumpet sensation, Rick Braun on "The First Noel." James and Braun previously teamed up in 2000 for the album Shake It Up that topped the Contemporary Jazz charts for twelve consecutive weeks.

Christmas Present highlights James' always soulful playing, as well as his continued evolution as a multi-faceted Producer and Arranger, tackling gritty funk to neo-soul grooves, straight-up pop to straight-ahead jazz, and gospel to art rock. Says James, "I'm really proud of the way everything came out. Each track evolved as a unique soundscape. Some songs wanted to be more funky, some more traditional, and some took a path that I couldn¹t have envisioned. Ultimately, even with some of the more profound deviations from the traditional versions, the songs retain their identity. I really think it is a testament to why these songs are classics, and why their spirit shines through every year."

The album¹s emotional centerpiece, "Silent Night," finds James and Anthony Hamilton testifying to the songs roots with a stirring gospel reading set against only James' tenor saxophone, a Hammond B3 organ, and handclaps. If you listen closely enough, you can almost hear the church pews creak.

Other album highlights include James¹ gliding soprano saxophone on Vince Guaraldi's "Skating" (first made famous in "A Charlie Brown Christmas") and his hauntingly spare arrangement of Joni Mitchell's "River" that echoes the melancholy longing of her original. "I was always curious how some of my favorite holiday songs like "Skating¹ and "River¹ would sound on the sax," says James. "So for me, it was all about creating unique moods and framing these great melodies so that they would hopefully amplify what I feel when I hear the originals."

Perhaps the most surprising song on the album is James' "Roxy Music meets Peter Gabriel" take on "Auld Lang Syne": "This was one of those great moments where, although I was completely immersed in the song¹s creation (playing both sax and keyboards, creating the arrangement and producing the track) when I was finished, even
I was surprised by the final outcome. This arrangement for me really captured the sadness and the hope that we can all feel as one year ends and another begins."

Boney James

Christmas Present

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Track List