12

by Alex Henderson12 is of historic value because it introduced saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who was still a year away from debuting as a leader with 1985's Floppy Disk. One of the more noteworthy albums that Bob James came out with in the '80s, 12 finds him featuring the up-and-coming Whalum on three selections: the funky "No Pay, No Play," the pensive "Midnight" and Whalum's own "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby" (a slightly Spyro Gyra-ish number). While those selections are enjoyable, the strongest tune on the CD is James' haunting, Chick Corea-influenced "Legacy." Like most of James' projects, 12 suffers from excessive producing and arranging. But despite that shortcoming, it's certainly more creative than knee-jerk, by-the-book releases like Heads, Lucky Seven, Sign of the Times and Touchdown.