''Contact'' is the thirteenth studio album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist

Boney James Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist (tenor, alto and soprano), songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 an ...

, released in 2011.

Background and recording

James was part way through the recording of the album in 2010 when he was rear-ended by a drunk driver while sitting in traffic, suffering a fractured jaw, facial cuts, and losing two teeth. He was unable to play sax for six weeks as a result, and used this time to focus on writing for the album.Jordan, Mark (2011)
Life's sweeter for James, his music
, ''The Commercial Appeal'', December 2, 2011. Of the album's title, James stated "Some of these songs had more of an energy even as I was starting, which is the first reason why I called it Contact. I thought of an airplane propeller being spun around." The album features vocals from

LeToya Luckett LeToya Nicole Luckett (born March 11, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a me ...

(on "When I Had the Chance"),

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

(on "That Look on Your Face"),

Heather Headley Heather Headley (born October 5, 1974) is a Trinidadian-born American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the titular role of ''Aida''. She also won the 2010 Grammy Aw ...

(on "I'm Waiting"), and

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up", " Where I Wanna Be", and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones' first studio alb ...

(on "Close to You"). It also features

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

on guitar, and Mark Stephens on piano. Two singles were taken from the album, "Contact" and "When I Had the Chance".

Reception and chart performance

''Contact'' received positive reviews from ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

(Thom Jurek calling it "a bright spot in James' catalog"). The album reached no. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Jazz Albums chart, and no. 53 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

.Boney James Chart History: Top Album Sales
, billboard.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018 ''Contact'' was nominated for Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the

Soul Train Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

.Webb, Genea L. (2013)
Boney James: Making Good Music His Life's Work
, ''

New Pittsburgh Courier The ''New Pittsburgh Courier'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by Real Times. The newspaper is named after the original ''Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was ...

'', May 1, 2013.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Boney James albums