- Stafford James
Stafford James (b. Apr. 24, 1946,
Evanston, Illinois ) is an Americanjazz bassist.As a young man, James enlisted in the Air Force; after his discharge he studied at the
University of Chicago withRudolf Fahsbender . In 1969 he moved toNew York City and studied underJulius Levine at theMannes College for Music . Here he metPharaoh Sanders , with whom he played his first jazz concerts in New York. James played withMonty Alexander andSun Ra at the end of the 1960s as well. Soon after he worked withAlice Coltrane andAlbert Ayler , and touredCanada with them in 1970. In 1971 he metMelba Moore , and played with her as part of theDavid Frost Revue . Other performances in the early 1970s included gigs withRashied Ali ,Roy Ayers ,Al Haig ,Barry Harris ,Andrew Hill ,Andrew Cyrille , andChico Hamilton .In 1973 he toured Europe for the first time with
Gary Bartz . In 1974, he was a member ofArt Blakey 's Jazz Messengers. At the same time he metBetty Carter , sparking a lifelong friendship, andWoody Shaw , with whom he studied the cello suites of Bach. In 1976 he founded a private quartet, which also toured Europe. He metDexter Gordon there and recorded "Homecoming" with him. He then toured Europe withJohn Scofield and performed on his album "Rough House". After this he recorded his second album as a bandleader, "The James Stafford Ensemble" in 1978.In the early 1980s James toured
Australia ,New Zealand ,Japan ,Mexico , andSouth America . In 1983 he began collaborating withJimmy Heath , and did more work with Woody Shaw, including a world tour with theUnited States Information Service . In 1986, he composed an "Ethiopian Suite" for two basses, string ensemble, drums and dancers for the "Celebrate Brooklyn Festival Dance". That same year, he arranged compositions byDuke Ellington for an ensemble of himself, pianistMulgrew Miller and cellistAkua Dixon . In 1987 he composed a "Sonatina" forviola d'amore and double bass, played at the "Bates Recital Hall" in American and at the European Music Festival inStuttgart in 1988.In 1989 James moved to
Paris , collaborating with Pharaoh Sanders,Barney Wilen andLavelle in the Stafford James Project. In 1991 he playedIgor Stravinsky 's "The Firebird " with theUkranian National Orchestra . In 1994 he played in a trio with pianistOnaje Allen Gumbs and drummerRonnie Burrage . He composed "Les Alpes aux Carpates" for bass, two pan flutes, string orchestra, women's choir, synthesizers and drums in 1995.In 1998 he toured Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Italy in a quartet with
Buster Williams ,Miquel Diaz (laterDon Alias ), andRonnie Burrage (laterJeff Boudreaux ).Further reading
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifrxqu5ldfe~T1 Stafford James] at
Allmusic External links
* [http://www.staffordjames.com Official website]
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