Saxophonist Boney James hates labels, loves the beat

It’s OK if you don’t know precisely into which predetermined musical category Boney James’ music fits.

He doesn’t know either.

For one thing, it would be tricky to describe the three-time Grammy nominee and Soul Train Award-winning saxophonist’s music, which reflects such influences as Grover Washington Jr. and Earth Wind and Fire and which is built upon a foundation of rhythm and blues, jazz, funk and soul.

For another, James says, “I don’t love labels in general because I came up in an era — the ’70s — in which there was, maybe a freer approach.”

James laughs. “Usually, I like to call it ‘Boney James Music.’ ”

Fair enough, and Southern Nevadans will be able to figure it all out themselves Saturday when James comes to Las Vegas to perform at The Railhead at Boulder Station.

“This is turning into almost an annual trek to The Railhead at Boulder Station,” James notes with what sounds like delight during a recent phone interview. “It’s going to be, I’d guess, at least four times, and we’ve been selling out every show.

“We just love the people over there. It’s a great venue, the production there is fantastic, and they’re nice people.”

Las Vegas gigs also are special, James adds, because his wife, actress and filmmaker Lily Mariye — you probably remember her as nurse Lily Jarvik on “ER” — was born and raised here.

Saturday’s show, and the tour James is just now kicking off, are in support of his new album, “The Beat,” which will be released Tuesday and on which James melds his own R&B/pop roots with Latin rhythm and percussion.

Guest artists on the album include vocalist Raheem DeVaughn, trumpeter Rick Braun and The Floacist (aka Natalie Stewart, formerly of the British R&B/soul duo Floetry).

“The Beat” is James’ 14th album. Eight of his albums have hit No. 1 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart and two have broken the top 10 of Billboard’s R&B albums chart. He has sold more than 3 million records.

But James said he wanted “The Beat” to sound “a little different” than his previous work.

“I had flirted with the idea of doing Latin for a while, but I wanted to make (an album that) felt natural to me and still felt creative,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be, ‘Boney James Plays This’ or ‘Boney James Plays That.’ ”

James ultimately found his inspiration in Sergio Mendes’ samba-influenced ’60s tune “Batucada (The Beat).”

“How I did it is I sort of came up with doing it as if The Ohio Players were doing it, turning it into sort of a hybrid of Latin and R&B, because I come from more of an R&B background,” James says. “And as soon as I put an arrangement together, the light bulb came on.”

James says his goal was to offer a mashup of Latin, R&B and jazz. Actually, approaching music with a sort of ecumenical sensitivity turns out to be right up James’ alley. Despite his appearances on Billboard’s contemporary jazz charts, James doesn’t really consider himself a jazz artist.

“If you carry a saxophone, people assume automatically you’re a jazz musician, ” he jokes. “But I think jazz implies a different sound than what I normally make.

“My music has a lot of elements in it — R&B and pop, and this new album has Latin — all filtered through me. Generally speaking, it’s got kind of a funky, sincere quality.”

While growing up, “I wasn’t a huge traditional jazz fan,” James adds. “The bands I listened to were more R&B and Motown, and Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield, and all that stuff.

“I heard Grover Washington Jr. — I think that was about 1975, that ‘Mister Magic’ record — and heard this beautiful sax player improvising very creatively, but on top of that was a funky beat. It was like ‘Ah ha!’ ”

Even now, “I think my music is much more melodic” than the more cerebral DNA of jazz, he says. “Even when I was soloing, I solo in a much more melodic way. I like songs. I like singers. And, to me, the sax is like my voice.”

It’s working not just for James, but for audience members who might, perhaps, be searching for new musical styles to sample. James says his audiences typically do contain relative newcomers who are surprised to hear what a guy with a saxophone can do.

“I’m getting a lot of people coming to my shows, and if they come for the first time, they come up to me afterwards and say, ‘I had no idea’ — quote, unquote — ‘a jazz concert could be like this.’

“When we engage in a show, it has a lot of energy in it. It’s got a lot more modern elements. We try to rock it out a bit.”

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.