12 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.