The Commodores, Boney James, et Sheila E.

The members of the Commodores met in the late 60s at Tuskegee University in Alabama and initially emerged from two different groups. The band started out as a sextet with Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King transitioning from the Mystics and Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams coming from the Jays. James Ingram was the band’s original singer; however, he was several years older than most of the other members and left the band to serve in the Vietnam war. Lionel Richie and Clyde Orange filled the vacant spot alternating on vocals.

The band started booking dates around town and even travelled to New York to play the club, Smalls Paradise. The band eventually booked a residency for two weeks at the club and steadily started building a name for themselves outside their hometown.

The band boosted their prominence in New York City and auditioned for an un-known opening spot for a high profile act. The Commodores past the audition and got the position opening up for the Jackson 5. The group’s performances were met with overwhelming enthusiasm and eventually caught the attention of the renowned soul label Motown. They secured a deal with Motown and released their first single “Machine Gun”, which reached #7 on the R&B charts and #22 on the pop charts. The song has gone on to be featured in countless sporting events and has been incorporated in the movies “Boogie Nights” and “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”. It was even sampled on the Beastie Boys’ classic album “Paul’s Boutique”. The band followed up this hit with yet another instrumental track called “Cebu”. “Cebu” was a soul-oriented smooth jam that was a key song in the pioneering of the Quiet Storm genre.

After the release of “Machine Gun” the band put out three albums within a two year time span. “Caught in the Act” and “Movin’ On” came out in 1975 while “Hot on the Tracks” was released in 1976. The latter album climbed to No. 12 on the US charts and went all the way to No.1 on the US R&B charts. The group made a slight departure from their hard driving funk sound and delved into slow downed ballads and soft jams (this is particularly evident in the country roots ballad “Easy”); however, the Commodores returned strongly to form with their breakthrough single “Brick House”. The single was based on an off the cuff bass riff from Ronald LaPread and lyrics penned by William King’s wife. It became a disco sensation and went to No. 5 on the US charts and to No. 32 on the UK pop charts. The band managed to top this with the release of “Three Times a Lady” and the 1979 ballad “Still”, both which peaked to No. 1 on the US charts. The band continued to keep their stride in the 80s and in 1981 released the No. 4 hit “Oh No” and the No. 8 dance track “Lady (You Brin Me Up)”.

The same year Lionel Richie released the No.1 single “Endless Love” with R&B/pop legend Diana Ross. The single remained at No.1 on the US R&B charts for 7 weeks and the US pop charts for 9 weeks. The popularity of this song acted as a precursor to the success of Richie’s solo career. Richie left the Commodores just a year after the release of “Endless Love”.

Despite the loss of one of their star members, the Commodores managed to perform at the top of their game. They recruited Heatwave singer J.D. Nicholas to fill the Richie’s position and shortly after put out the single “Nightshift”, which earned the group a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. The single was not only a massive critical success it also did immensely well commercially spending 4 weeks on top of the charts.

The Commodores changed their sound to a more straightforward pop tone in the late 80s and in the 90s the lineup narrowed down to only three core members: Walter Orange, William King, and J.D. Nicholas. Though the group drastically slowed down production of original studio albums they still kept busy re-recording their greatest hits, putting out Christmas albums and forming their own record label. The band also has been on extensive world tours throughout the 90s and 2000s playing at venues ranging from festival stages to arenas.

Born James Oppenheim, the young James had discovered the joys of jazz music by a very early age, taking up the clarinet at the tender age of eight before switching to the saxophone by the time he was 10. However, it wasn’t until his family upped sticks from New York to Los Angeles when James was 14 that he started performing live around the jazz clubs of his new home state. As time went on James began to pick up other instruments, and after he’d finished his history degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1985 he became a session keyboardist, joining the backing band of R&B legend Morris Day.

While on tour with Day he convinced his paymaster to let him switch from keys to his primary instrument, the sax. After Day agreed, James’ name began to spread about his mastery on the tenor, alto and soprano Sax, alongside his considerable skills on keys and the flute. After leaving Day’s band, his clients included everyone from the Isley Brothers to Teena Marie and Sheena Easton, but it was while he was on tour with Randy Crawford in 1986 that he picked up his stage name. See, all this performing didn’t lead to enormous pay-checks, and James said to a fellow band member that he was running out of food money.His bandmate replied that if he started eating any less "We'll have to start calling you Boney James!".

James took the name to heart and has used it as a stage name ever since. Years passed going from backing band to backing band, but everything would change in the early 90’s, when his playing caught the attention of an engineer and producer called Paul Brown while playing in Bobby Caldwell’s band. Brown was so taken with his playing and the music that he wrote that he negotiated a contract with the independent label Spindletop Records for James and by 1992, James’ first solo album “Trust”, was released. For an independent album released before the internet revolution, it was a hit, one big enough to snag James a major label deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Since then, James has become one of the most respected jazz artists of his generation, consistently releasing great albums, collaborating with everyone under the sun and even having three of his albums go gold. Even a car crash in 2010 that fractured his jaw and shattered two of his teeth couldn’t keep him out of commission for longer than two months. He’s a true artist that has never been anywhere other than the top of his game, and in the highly competitive world of jazz, one that demands the very best out of everyone who performs in it, that’s a very rare thing indeed. Highly recommended.

Born of Mexican and Creole descent to a percussion playing father Pete Escovedo, Sheila E. honed her singing and percussive skills from a early age playing in her father’s jazz-fusion band Azteca. The singer later appeared on two of Azteca’s albums, before appearing on jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson’s “Yesterday’s Dream” in 1976. Whilst continuing to perform with her father’s band, Sheila E. came to the attention of Prince who approached the singer at a concert in 1978. Prince subsequently mentored Sheila during his “Purple Rain” recording sessions and beyond, with Sheila later performing alongside the likes of George Duke, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, and Diana Ross.

The singer went solo in 1984 with record label assistance from Prince, and released her debut album “Sheila E. In the Glamorous Life” in June 1984. Led by the Prince-penned No. 7 hit single “The Glamorous Life” and later “The Belle of St. Mark”, the album peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard 200 and introduced the singer to a national audience. Sheila’s sophomore album “Romance 1600” arrived in 1985, showing the singer strongly identifying with the style and image of Prince, with the album’s biggest hit the Prince duet “A Love Bizarre”. The album earned a nomination for an American Music Award and two Grammy nominations for Best new Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Following a number of film appearance including in 1985's “Krush Groove” and 1987’s “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane”, the singer became the drummer for Prince’s backup band The New Power Generation.

In 1987 Sheila E. issued her self-titled third album, which peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard 200. Spawning the singles “Love On a Blue Train”, “Hold Me”, and “Koo Koo”, the album was followed by “Sex Cymbal” in 1991. With a notable latin influence, with funk and salsa embellishments, the singer tapped in to the sound of the time. Following the release, Sheila E. took a hiatus from releasing original material and played drums in Namie Amuro’s backup band, on Phil Colins’ cover of “True Colors”, and on Beyoncé’s “Work It Out”. In 2000 the singer returned to release the full-length “Writes of Passage” on Concord Records, followed by “Heaven” in 2001, after which she became the drummer for Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. The full-length “Sheila E ICON” arrived in 2013.