The sad and unexpected news of James Ingram’s death in January at the age of 66 came as a shocker. His career started in the early ’70s, but really took off after being discovered by Quincy Jones. It would be Jones who produced Ingram’s most successful album It’s Your Night .
By It’s Your Night’s release in 1982, James Ingram had helped define a slick grown-up (yet clean) quiet storm sound. Ingram’s soft and inviting baritone was not threatening and along with Patty Austin, they created a new kind of quiet storm that was presentable to white radio – which in turn made it something more than just black music to many top 40 radio station programmers.
Much of Ingram’s polish came from Quincy Jones’ production style. As such, It’s Your Night benefits from a full complement of top-notch session musicians and arrangers like Rod Temperton, David Foster and the songwriting duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. There’s even a cameo from Luther Vandross singing backup on the title track.
Any Jones project combines the black American diaspora with traditional American standards in a polished, radio-friendly way. It also meant that the very thing that made James Ingram so palatable to top 40 audiences also made his music less favored in the hood with audiences that were still enamored with Luther Vandross and later Freddie Jackson.
However, it was Ingram’s longtime collaborator Patty Austin who is featured most prominently on “How Do You Keep The Music Playing”, helped him to stay on the Adult Contemporary charts. The pair had a hit with “Baby Come to Me” the year before. From around 1981 to 1983, it was difficult to know who’s album was what as the duo struck gold one single after another. The albums other notable hit featured the evergreen Michael McDonald on “Yah Mo B There”.
The high standard of production only reminds me of the excellent musicians that are normally part of any Quincy Jones project. It’s Your Night was no different. It featured three bass players: Abraham Laboriel, Sr, Louis Johnson, and Nathan East. Collectively, they were responsible for the bouncy elastic bass that would be associated with Michael Jackson albums like Thriller and Off The Wall.
Ingram’s career continued on an upward trajectory until the early ’90s. By that point, his sound was no longer in sync with an increasingly brash R&B scene that had gone all hip hop and street. After a widely ignored comeback album in 2008, Ingram stayed active in the public sphere with appearances at various events. He will be missed.
Beatopolis 