Two (Bob James album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Two

| type = studio

| artist = Bob James

| cover = Bob James Two.jpg

| alt =

| released = May 29, 1975

| recorded = December 1974 & January 1975

| venue =

| studio = Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

| genre = Jazz fusion, smooth jazz

| length = 38:23

| label = CTI

| producer = Creed Taylor

| prev_title = One

| prev_year = 1974

| next_title = Three

| next_year = 1976

}}

Two is the second solo album by jazz keyboardist Bob James.

Reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 =Allmusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}} {{AllMusic |class=album |id=r141423 |tab=review |label=Bob James: Two > Review |first=Scott |last=Yanow|accessdate=14 September 2011}}

}}

The album is the second of a series of jazz-funk classics (along with One, Three and BJ4). Released in 1975, the album charted at number two on the Jazz Album Charts. The track "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" is one of the most widely used tracks in hip-hop breakbeat samples.

Track listing

  1. "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (Paul Simon) – 5:50
  2. "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" (Tony Camillo, Mary Sawyer) – 5:26
  3. "The Golden Apple" (Bob James) – 7:20
  4. "Farandole" (Georges Bizet) – 8:24
  5. "You're as Right as Rain" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) – 5:28
  6. "Dream Journey" (Bob James) – 5:55

Personnel

Brass and Woodwinds

Strings

= Production =

  • Creed Taylor – producer
  • Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
  • Bob Ciano – album design
  • Greg Laurents – cover photography

Samples

  • Many artists sampled the drums and bell part of the intro to the track "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", an instrumental cover of the Paul Simon song. It has since become a widely recognized drum break, similar to another break from another instrumental, "Ashley's Roachclip".[https://theurbandaily.com/1205305/mardis-gras-bob-james/ Celebrate Mardis Gras With Bob James] at The Urban Daily
  • The melody of "You're as Right as Rain" was sampled by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp for their 2001 single "Eple" (whose title means "apple" in Norwegian, in reference to Two{{'}}s album cover).{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/how-royksopps-melody-a-m-brought-electronica-into-the-mainstream-2495411706.html|title=How Röyksopp's 'Melody A.M.' Brought Electronica Into the Mainstream|date=2016-10-24|website=PopMatters|language=en|access-date=2019-07-03}}

Charts

class="wikitable"
Chart (1975)

! Peak
position

Billboard Pop Albums{{Cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6800/charts-awards/billboard-albums|pure_url=yes}}|title=Bob James US albums chart history|publisher=allmusic.com|accessdate=2011-07-13}}

| align=center|75

Billboard Top Soul Albums

| align=center|28

Billboard Top Jazz Albums

| align=center|2

References