Hands Down (album)

Hands Down
Studio album by Bob James
Released	August 15,1982
Recorded	March 1982-June 1982
Genre	Jazz fusion, smooth Jazz, electronic jazz
Length	34:51
Label	Tappan Zee
Producer	Bob James
Bob James chronology
Sign of the Times (1981) Hands Down (1982) Two of a Kind With Earl Klugh (1982)

Hands Down is the tenth studio album by Bob James), released in 1982. This was a turning point in James career, with the tracks "It's Only Me" and "Spunky" being early exponents of electronic jazz. At the time electronica was transforming popular music in reaction to the big orchestrations of the late 1970s (prevalent on James' previous works). The minimalist tastes of the era were also reflected in "Roberta", which mostly featured James in a piano solo.

The track "Shamboozie" is sampled by rapper Rakim on the track "Guess Who's Back" from his 1997 debut album The 18th Letter.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob James, unless where noted.

1. Spunky (6:59)
2. Macumba (Rod Temperton, Bob James) (5:11)
3. Shamboozie (5:17)
4. Janus (5:51)
5. Roberta (Mike Lawrence) (6:53)
6. It's Only Me (5:24)

Personnel

• Bob James - Electric Piano (tracks 1 to 3), Acoustic Piano (tracks 4 to 6), Synthesizers (except track 5), Bass and Drum Programming (tracks 2 and 6)
• Gary King - Bass (tracks 1, 2 and 5)
• Marcus Miller - Bass (track 3)
• Doug Stegmeyer - Bass (track 4)
• Harvey Mason - Drum Programming (track 1), Drums (track 5)
• John Robinson - Drums (tracks 2 and 3)
• Liberty DeVitto - Drums (track 4)
• Steve Khan - Guitar (tracks 2 and 3)
• David Brown - Guitar (track 4)
• Leonard 'Doc' Gibbs, Jr. - Percussion (tracks 1 to 4)
• Jay Beckenstein - Alto Saxophone (track 2)
• Eddie Daniels - Tenor Saxophone (tracks 2 to 4)
• Wally Kane, Whit Sidener, Mark Colby, George Marge - Woodwinds
• Mike Lawrence, Ron Tooley, Dave Taylor, John Frosk, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis - Trumpet
• Wayne Andre, Jim Pugh, Dave Taylor - Trombone
• Luther Vandross, Milt Grayson, Patti Austin, Vivian Cherry, Yvonne Lewis, Zach Sanders - Vocals (track 2)
• Rob Zante - Lyricon (track 2)
• Alfred Brown, Barry Finclair, Charles McCracken, Elena Barere, Emanuel Vardi, Gerald Tarack, Jan Mullen, John Pintavalle, Jonathan Abramowitz, Joseph Rubushka, LaMar Alsop, Lewis Eley, Marvin Morgenstern, Matthew Riamondi, Max Ellen, Richard Locker, Richard Sortomme, Theodore Israel, Warren Lash - Strings (track 5)
• David Nadien - Concertmaster (track 5)