I remember, when my mother lived in Detroit and I lived with Grandparents in Kalamazoo, I first was introduced to smooth jazz. I think I was 7 or 8. My mother had tons of records all around, but there was this one that always caught my eye. It was a double LP and it had a guy hanging out of a taxi on the front of it. Mom caught me looking at it and asked me if I wanted to listen to it. I said sure.

That was the first time that I heard a guy named Bob James and the song that Mom played was called Angela (Theme from Taxi). Seven minutes later, I was hooked for life. A few years later, when Mom and I were down in Greektown waiting for a table at the Pegasus, I met Mr. James and got his autograph … and tickets to a show he was doing the following night. If anything, that hooked me again.

Angela was the first song I played when I DJ’ed for 89.1 WIDR, the WMU student radio station. I did a jazz show every Wednesday night from 8PM – 11PM. I had that show for two years and I made sure to squeeze it in when time allowed. To this day, whenever I feel the need to listen to a song for a pick me up, I make sure I find Angela on my iPod … and tonight I feel the need to share it with you.