"...bridging the gap between musical adventure and mass appeal."

Following the release of Come To Me , claimed by many to be James' finest work, Gregory James is reissuing two original recordings from 1984 on CD... Tibet and Alphabet Town .   Both recordings gained initial praise with Mix magazine declaring, "James proves that despite what you've heard, fusion can still sound interesting."

Come to Me was the fruit of the long-awaited collaboration between James and producer/instrumentalist Benny Rietveld (Miles Davis, Santana), with an eclectic line-up including DJ Fly, Jenny Scheinman, Baron Shul and Deszon Claiborne. In August 2005, All About Jazz called Come To Me "A must-have...it could be the album of the year."

Tibet and Alphabet Town reveal an assortment of collaborations with a variety of musicians in the San Francisco guitarist's creative world 21 years ago. Tibet is a duet featuring James and longtime friend and musical partner Barry Shulman (Baron Shul). Music critic Derek Richardson reviewed Tibet in the San Francisco Guardian stating, "Shulman and James weave fascinating impressionistic bits of musical lace. On 'Sappho' , 'Tibet' , and 'Antares' , the pair intertwines acoustic guitar and flute in stately communications that balance flash and sensitivity." Guitar Player magazine's Dan Forte wrote, "The duets lean towards pastoral, impressionistic sketches. James' guitar lines are simple, direct and melodic."

In Alphabet Town , James records with Shulman on sax and flute, bassist Bruce Barrett and drummer/percussionist Robin Tolleson. Guitar Player magazine aptly described the recording as "high-energy polyrhythmic fusion" and Richardson praised the versatility of the quartet adding, "...It is able to create pleasantly kaleidoscopic patterns of texture and color."

Alphabet Town has urgency 'Chan' , 'Desert Ice' , musical grace 'Lady L', swampy blues 'Jamaica , NY' , and camp 'Santa Fe' ...all earning it a Downbeat four-and-a-half star rating (out of five) in 1984. Robert Henschen wrote, "...The potent quartet bridges the gap between musical adventure and mass appeal. James' eclectic, acoustic and synthesized guitars are both strong and subtle and balanced by a strong rhythm section...the charisma of the group's sound makes for a generally superior recording."

Harn Soper at the Music Annex in Menlo Park originally engineered both recordings with state-of-the-art recording techniques. The audiophile sound, like the Graeme Outerbridge photography and Anne Ackerman graphics didn't go unnoticed. Derek Richardson noted, "The result is a crystalline, truer-than-life sound with stunning special dynamics and clarity." Both re-issue recordings were re-mastered and mixed by Bay Area's Cookie Marenco at The Site and OTR studios.