In the Driver’s Seat

Boney James has played New York many times now, but his recent appearance there was special: It was his first headlining gig at the Apollo Theatre, a room where some of the greatest names of R&B; launched their careers. And James somehow felt their presence.

“It was wonderful,” says the saxophonist. Favorite acts when he was growing up included Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. “It’s got an aura about it, and we all felt it during the show.”

His wife even took a picture of his name on the marquee. That might seem like a humble gesture for an artist who has enjoyed three gold records, along with a new tour that delivers him to another big room, the Universal Amphitheatre, on Saturday. But if anything, the funkier grooves of R&B; are only growing more prominent in his music.

James’ newest album, “Ride,” includes such guest vocalists as Dave Hollister and Jaheim, along with beats from Amir “?uestlove” Thompson of the Roots, and suggests a stickier groove than the smoother sound of his previous records.

But R&B;, and music in general, might have seemed an unexpected career choice for James, 40, who grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., before moving in 1975 to “the flats of Beverly Hills” while in high school. Though he played in bands as a hobby starting at 13, he didn’t see music as his destiny.

“I thought I was going to be a lawyer or something like that,” he says. But those plans changed when he returned home from UC Berkeley for summer vacation and rejoined his high school friends, who were playing in a band in a serious way.

James played with them one night at the Improv club in West Hollywood, and found himself changed. “I got up on stage with them, with the lights and the crowd screaming, and I had a sort of epiphany: Wow, this is what I love.”

Back in New Rochelle, James had studied with Yellowjackets saxman Bob Mintzer. After transferring to UCLA, where he eventually earned a history degree, he began directing his energy toward music, seeing the careers of R&B-flavored; instrumentalists Grover Washington Jr. and Ronnie Laws as models.

His first band of neighborhood friends eventually broke up, and James decided he wanted to be a sideman. In 1985 he was hired into the first solo band of Morris Day, former leader of the Time. “I thought I had it made,” James says with a laugh. “I was making $1,500 a week. We were staying at the Ritz Carlton. I thought, ‘This is it, I’m in!’ Then, of course, I came home from that tour and I had to deliver pizzas again.”

More sideman jobs followed, playing various instruments and singing background behind the likes of Ray Parker Jr., Randy Crawford, Sheena Easton, the Isley Brothers and Bobby Caldwell. At the same time, he was writing songs, aiming to have other artists sing his material.

But he wasn’t happy, either as a writer or a player. “I really started to get frustrated with my life at that point,” James says. “I decided I should just write songs that I like, and maybe they’ll be better and more honest and people will dig them.”

He eventually won a deal with the tiny Spindle Top Records label, which released his debut album in 1992. Though limited distribution kept the album out of most stores, some of his songs began to be heard on “smooth jazz” radio stations.

“It was just the stuff that was coming out of me, which is all I’m ever trying to do now,” he says now. “It’s still a record that I’m very fond of.”

By the time he began recording his second album for the label, Warner Bros. Records expressed interest, and in 1993 the label released “Backbone,” which ultimately sold 100,000 copies.

His newest album, he says, is just another in what he calls a slow, natural progression in his music. But a funkier vibe can be heard in the grooves, including the title song, performed with new hit-maker Jaheim.

James remains a rarity: an instrumentalist popular enough to play large venues, where he’s learned to feel comfortable. “I realized I had a talent for performance, which I didn’t know. When I got out in front of a crowd, I became a different person. All I know is that I like it, and I’m always trying to make the music as good as it can be according to my internal compass.”

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Boney James, with Chante Moore, at Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, Saturday, 8:15 p.m. $25 to $65.50. (818) 622-4440.