Hilary James and Bob James - Flesh & Blood


First, we're going to listen to a mildly obscure submission into the Bob James catalog, Flesh & Blood. He's called the Godfather of Hip-Hop because his track Nautilus from the 70s has been sampled at least 352 times, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, Naughty By Nature, Run D.M.C, Usher, everybody. 

No idea who Hilary is, all the liner notes say is "thanks for letting us invade your living room" from the producers. We'll just assume she's his wife. First listen, whole lot of "i need a man to feel spiritually and emotionally fulfilled." I kinda zoned out, so i needed a second listen. 

Critically speaking, everybody says "why do i have to listen to Hilary not try very hard?" I don't think that's fair. No, she is not forceful, or sultry, or exciting, but i can imagine exactly how terrible it would be if her goal was to out Houston the Whitney. Nothing worse than a mousy voice trying to belt and warble, be yourself i say. The other main criticism is that it's barely jazz even by Bob James standards. I have no basis for comparison, but i do have a Bob James solo album, so we'll do that next. 

If the goal is to be lowish volume pleasant background music for whatever more important thing you're selling, then this totally succeeds. I don't get all the fuss. Ooooh, wait, Hilary is his daughter? Not gonna lie, that's a little uncomfortably take tour daughter to work (at the hotel lounge) creepy. Flesh & Blood hits different now. 

Sure, the my daddy's famous nepotism thing is there if you're desperately trying to spin it that way, but I would be lying if i said i didn't thoroughly enjoy listening to it. It sounds more like legitimate quality time they both enjoy. It sounds like a jazz pianist playing on his daughter's day spa soundtrack rather than a daughter trying to capitalize on her dad's success. I do have one question though. What the hell is "green silence?" The answer, unsurprisingly, is running shoes for women. You know, because marketing.

Part 2

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