StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Boney James

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring saxophonist Boney James, who's coming to St. Louis to perform next Friday, April 26 at The Pageant.

Born in Massachusetts, James was raised in upstate New York,then Los Angeles, and attended UCLA, where he earned a degree in history. After graduating, he got into the music business in the mid-1980s as a sideman, playing saxophone and keyboards in support of R&B and funk performers including Morris Day, the Isley Brothers, Bobby Caldwell, Randy Crawford, Teena Marie, and others.

James released his first album as a leader on a small independent label in 1992, which led to him being signed to Warner Brothers records a couple of years later. His time at Warners established him as a headliner and festival and major venues in the USA and around the world, with three of his albums for the label earning gold records.

In all, James has put out 16 albums, the most recent being 2017's Honestly, and earned four Grammy nominations as well as a number of other awards along the way. He last performed here in St. Louis in July 2018 as part of the Gateway Jazz Festival at Chesterfield Amphitheater.

Though he's often categorized as a smooth jazz performer and his repertoire includes some obligatory slow jams, James' experiences in funk and R&B help make his music a bit grittier than many others in the genre. You can see and hear some of that in today's videos of recent live performances by James and his band, starting with the first clip up above, the set opener "Up All Night" as recorded last Sunday, April 14 at the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY/

After the jump, you can see three more performances from that show, starting with "Butter," then "On The Prowl," and finally, an excerpt in which James fakes out the audience with a brief snippet of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mister Magic," then segues directly into "Batucada," featuring a solo by drummer Omari Williams.

Next, there's a version of "Tick Tock," recorded in October 2018 at a show in Newport Beach, CA, followed by an extended excerpt from James' set at the 2017 San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival.

For more about Boney James and Honestly, read his 2018 interview with AXS.com and his Q&A from 2017 with artsnla.com.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...