Touchdown (Bob James album)

Touchdown
Studio album by Bob James
Released	July 20, 1978
Recorded	1978
Studio	CBS Studios, Sound Mixers and A&R Recording (New York City, New York)
Genre	Jazz fusion, smooth jazz
Length	33:42
Label	Tappan Zee
Producer	Bob James
Bob James chronology
Heads (1977) Touchdown (1978) Lucky Seven (1979)

Touchdown is the sixth album by Bob James, released in 1978 on his Tappan Zee label through Columbia.

The album's title is a reference to this being James' sixth solo album (a touchdown being worth six points in American football), a pattern also followed by his previous album Heads (featuring a five cent coin on its cover) and next album Lucky Seven.

Taxi

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]

Touchdown contains the song "Angela", the popular theme to the 1970s television sitcom Taxi . ^[3] The song was named after a guest character in the third episode of the first season ("Blind Date"), but after hearing the song, the producers made this the show's main theme, replacing their previous choice, which became this album's title track.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob James

1. "Angela (Theme from Taxi)" – 5:48
2. "Touchdown" – 5:44
3. "I Want to Thank You (Very Much)" – 7:07
4. "Sun Runner" – 6:17
5. "Caribbean Nights" – 8:46

Personnel

• Bob James – acoustic piano, Yamaha electric grand piano, Fender Rhodes, Oberheim Polyphonic synthesizer, arrangements and conductor
• Eric Gale – guitar solo (1), electric guitar (2, 5)
• Hiram Bullock – electric guitar (2–5), guitar solo (5), vocal solo (5)
• Earl Klugh – acoustic guitar (3–5)
• Richard Resnicoff – acoustic rhythm guitar (3)
• Gary King – electric bass (1, 2)
• Ron Carter – acoustic bass (3–5), piccolo bass solo (5)
• Idris Muhammad – drums (1)
• Steve Gadd – drums (2–5)
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion (1–4)
• Mongo Santamaria – percussion (5)

Brass and Woodwinds

• Phil Bodner – alto saxophone, flute, oboe
• Jerry Dodgion – alto saxophone, flute
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone solo (2)
• Howard Johnson – baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet
• Harvey Estrin – tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
• George Marge – tenor saxophone, English horn, flute, oboe, recorder
• Hubert Laws – flute solo (3–5)
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• Dave Bargeron – trombone
• Alan Raph – trombone
• Randy Brecker – trumpet
• Jon Faddis – trumpet
• Mike Lawrence – trumpet
• Ron Tooley – trumpet

Strings

• David Nadien – concertmaster
• Jonathan Abramowitz, Seymour Barab, Richard Locker and Charles McCracken – cello
• Jean Dane, Theodore Israel, Sue Pray and Emanuel Vardi – viola
• Harry Cykman, Lewis Eley, Max Ellen, Louis Gabowitz, Diana Halprin, Harold Kohon, Harry Lookofsky, John Pintavalle, Matthew Raimondi, Herbert Sorkin and Richard Sortomme – violin

Production

• Bob James – producer
• Jay Chattaway – associate producer
• Joe Jorgensen – associate producer, engineer
• Tim Bomba – assistant engineer
• Ted Bronson – assistant engineer
• Lou Jannone – assistant engineer
• Harold Tarowsky – assistant engineer
• Vlado Meller – mastering at Columbia Mastering (New York, NY)
• Marion Orr – production coordinator
• Paula Scher – art direction, design
• Buddy Endress – photography

Charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Billboard Pop Albums [4]	37
Billboard Top Jazz Albums [4]	1

References

1. Henderson, Alex. Bob James: Touchdown > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
2. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 111. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
3. Caputo, Sal (June 2, 1981). "Record Reviews". Arts/Films. Courier News. p. 1.
4. "Bob James US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

External links

• Bob James-Touchdown at Discogs