Stafford James
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Stafford James (b. Apr. 24, 1946, Evanston, Illinois) is an American jazz bassist.
As a young man, James enlisted in the Air Force; after his discharge he studied at the University of Chicago with Rudolf Fahsbender. In 1969 he moved to New York City and studied under Julius Levine at the Mannes College for Music. Here he met Pharaoh Sanders, with whom he played his first jazz concerts in New York. He played with Monty Alexander and Sun Ra at the end of the 1960s as well. Soon after he worked with Alice Coltrane and Albert Ayler, and toured Canada with them in 1970. In 1971 he met Melba Moore, and played with her as part of the David Frost Revue. Other performances in the early 1970s included gigs with Rashied Ali, Roy Ayers, Al Haig, Barry Harris, Andrew Hill, Andrew Cyrille, and Chico Hamilton.
In 1973 he toured Europe for the first time with Gary Bartz. In 1974, he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. At the same time he met Betty Carter, sparking a lifelong friendship, and Woody Shaw, with whom he studied the cello suites of Bach. In 1976 he founded a private quartet, which also toured Europe. He met Dexter Gordon there and recorded Homecoming with him. He then toured Europe with John 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 he toured Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, and South America. In 1983 he began collaborating with Jimmy Heath, and did more work with Woody Shaw, including a world tour with the United 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 by Duke Ellington for an ensemble of himself, pianist Mulgrew Miller and cellist Akua Dixon. In 1987 he composed a Sonatina for viola d'amore and double bass, played at the Bates Recital Hall in American and at the European Music Festival in Stuttgart in 1988.
In 1989 James moved to Paris, collaborating with Pharaoh Sanders, Barney Wilen and Lavelle in the Stafford James Project. In 1991 he played Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird with the Ukranian National Orchestra. In 1994 he played in a trio with pianist Onaje Allen Gumbs and drummer Ronnie 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 (later Don Alias), and Ronnie Burrage (later Jeff Boudreaux).
