Robert McElhiney James (born December 25, 1939) is a jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist, arranger and producer.

During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in turning fusion jazz more mainstream. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date. He is also well-known for the fusion classics "Nautilus" and "Westchester Lady", the latter from the album Bob James Three.

For their first joint album release, One on One, Earl Klugh and Bob James received a Grammy award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1981. James is the founding member of smooth jazz supergroup Fourplay and is a Yamaha Artist.

Very influenced by pop and movie music, James has often featured soloists who add a jazz touch to his sound (most notably Grover Washington, Jr.). While best known for his fusion sound, James began in 1962, recording a bop-ish trio set for Mercury. Three years later, his album for ESP was quite avant-garde, with electronic tapes used for effects. After a period with Sarah Vaughan (1965-1968), he became a studio musician, appearing with Stanley Turrentine and Milt Jackson on the 1972 album Cherry and with Turrentine on his following album Don't Mess with Mister T. (1973), and that same year was arranging and working as a producer for CTI. In 1974, James recorded his first purely commercial effort as a leader; he later made big-selling albums for his own Tappan Zee label, Columbia, and Warner Bros., including collaborations with Earl Klugh and David Sanborn.

James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz. His music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop music, having been sampled often. Two of James' songs – "Nautilus" from 1974's One and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" from 1975's Two – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. "Nautilus" has been most famously sampled in Eric B. & Rakim's "Follow the Leader", Run-D.M.C.'s "Beats to the Rhyme", Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500" and Jeru the Damaja's "My Mind Spray" amongst many others and the notes of "Nautilus'" bassline were played on a keyboard for Slick Rick's "Children's Story". According to whosampled.com, "Nautlius" and "Take Me to Mardi Gras" have been sampled in thirty-two and forty-three hip-hop recordings, respectively. The first four measures of "Mardi Gras" (a Paul Simon original) includes a bell and drum groove that is one of hip hop's fundamental breakbeats. Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper", LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells", the Beastie Boys' "Hold it Now, Hit it", Missy Elliott's "Work It," Will.i.am's "I Got it from my Mama,", "I Want You" from Common's Finding Forever, and most recently "Take It Back" from Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams.

Röyksopp sampled his version of the Stylistics song "You're as Right as Rain" for their instrumental track "Eple."

Souls of Mischief sampled "Angela (theme from Taxi)" for their song "Cab Fare."

The title track from his 1981 album Sign of the Times was sampled in De La Soul's "Keepin' the Faith", and Warren G's "Regulate". In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on "Black Ice" from Goodie Mob's second album Still Standing. His "Angela" was sampled in the track "Cab Fare" by Souls of Mischief, an out-take from their album No Man's Land.

The track "El Verano" from the 1977 album "Four" is used as a sample in the song "Blown Away" by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the Masta Ace Track "NY Confidential".

English Drum & Bass pioneer Adam F extensively sampled "Westchester Lady" on his 1992 breakthrough release Circles.

One's "Night on Bald Mountain" is used in the videogame God Hand, and forms the soundtrack to a level of the same name.

N.W.A's 'Alwayz into Somethin uses a sample of Bob James's track 'Storm King' on the album 'Bob James Three'.

"Nautilus" was used in video game developer Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" on the fictional radio station, Master Sounds 98.3.

Solo

• 1974 One
• 1974 Two
• 1976 Three
• 1977 Four
• 1977 Heads
• 1978 Touchdown
• 1979 Lucky Seven

• 1980 H
• 1981 All Around The Town
• 1981 Sign Of The Times
• 1982 Hands Down
• 1983 Foxie
• 1983 Taxi - The Genie
• 1984 12
• 1984 The Swan
• 1986 Obsession
• 1988 Ivory Coast
• 1990 Grand Piano Cayon
• 1994 Hapgood
• 1997 Playin' Hooky
• 1999 Joy Ride
• 2001 Anthology
• 2001 Dancing On The Water
• 2001 Restoration
• 2002 Morning, Noon & Night
• 2003 Bob James in Hi Fi
• 2005 Urban Flamingo
• 2005 The Essential Collection 24 Smooth Jazz Classics
• 2009 The Very Best Of Bob James

Trio

• 1963 Bold Conceptions
• 1964 Explosions
• 1996 Straight Up
• 2003 Take It From The Top

Collaborations

• 1979 One On One (With Earl Klugh)
• 1981 Two Of A Kind (With Earl Klugh)
• 1986 Double Vision (With David Sanborn)
• 1992 Cool (With Earl Klugh)
• 1993 Between The Sheets (With Fourplay)
• 1995 Flesh And Blood (With Hilary James)
• 1996 Joined At The Hip (With Kirk Whalum)
• 2005 Angels Of Shanghai
• 2008 Christmas Eyes (With Hilary James)

Fourplay

• 1991 Fourplay
• 1993 Between The Sheets
• 1995 Elixir
• 1997 The Best Of Fourplay
• 1998 4
• 1999 Snowbound
• 2000 Yes, Please
• 2002 Heartfelt
• 2004 Journey
• 2006 X
• 2008 Energy

Classical

• 1984 Rameau
• 1988 The Scarlatti Dialogues
• 1989 J.S. Bach: Concertos For 2 & 3 Keyboards (Out Of Print)

• 2005 Live at Montreux
• 2005 Bob James: An Evening of Fourplay Vol 1 & 2
• 2006 Bob James LiveVIEW DVD