James Genus (January 20, 1966) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

bassist. He plays both

electric bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...

and

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

and currently plays in the

Saturday Night Live Band The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, a ...

. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, having worked with an extensive list of artists. Genus was born in Hampton, Virginia. He began on guitar at age six and switched to bass at 13. He studied at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

from 1983 to 1987 and played for a summer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he quickly began working with many noted players on the city's jazz scene. He has played with Out of the Blue (1988–89),

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sc ...

(1989),

Roy Haynes Roy Owen Haynes (born March 13, 1925) is an American jazz drummer. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 80 years, he has played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and is considered a pioneer of jaz ...

and

Don Pullen Don Gabriel Pullen (December 25, 1941 – April 22, 1995) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed pieces ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz. The great ...

(1989–91),

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition ...

(1990), Greg Osby and

New York Voices New York Voices is a jazz vocal group that was founded in 1987 by Peter Eldridge, Caprice Fox, Sara Krieger, Darmon Meader, and Kim Nazarian. All except Krieger were members of an alumni group from Ithaca College that toured Europe in 1986. They ...

(1990–91), Jon Faddis (1991), T.S. Monk (1991), Benny Golson (1991), Dave Kikoski (1991),

Bob Berg Robert Berg (April 7, 1951 – December 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Berg was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Berg started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He beg ...

(1991–96),

Geoffrey Keezer Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. He has toured w ...

(1992), Lee Konitz (1992),

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

(1992–96), Bob James (since 1994),

Michel Camilo Michel Camilo (born April 4, 1954) is a Grammy-award winning pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work. Camilo lists some of his main influences as Chick Corea, Keith Ja ...

(since 1995), Elysian Fields (since 1995), Branford Marsalis (1996), Chick Corea (1996), Didier Lockwood (1996), Dave Douglas (1996),

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

(1997), Global Theory (1997), Ravi Coltrane (2000), Bill Evans (2005), Herbie Hancock (2008), and Daft Punk (2013).

Discography

As sideman

With

*''

The Old Country ''The Old Country'' is a 1921 British silent drama film directed by A. V. Bramble and starring Gerald McCarthy, Kathleen Vaughan and Haidee Wright. Cast * Gerald McCarthy – James Fountain * Kathleen Vaughan – Mary Lorimer * Haidee Wr ...

'' (Alfa, 1990) With The Brecker Brothers * '' Return of the Brecker Brothers'' ( GRP, 1992) * '' Out of the Loop (Brecker Brothers album)'' ( GRP, 1994) - 37th Annual Grammy Awards Best Contemporary Jazz Performance With

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

*'' Generations'' (Concord, 2004) With

*''

Blue Wail ''Blue Wail'' is an album by pianist Uri Caine which was released on the Winter & Winter label in 1999. Reception In his review for Allmusic, David R. Adler notes that "Caine and company imbue every tune with an extraordinary blues feeling and a ...

'' (Winter & Winter, 1999) *'' The Sidewalks of New York: Tin Pan Alley'' (Winter & Winter, 1999) *'' The Goldberg Variations'' (Winter & Winter, 2000) With James Carter *''

Present Tense The present tense (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time. The present tense is used for actions which are happening now. In order to explain and understand present ...

'' (EmArcy, 2008) With Dave Douglas *'' In Our Lifetime'' (New World, 1995) *'' Stargazer'' (Arabesque, 1997) *'' Moving Portrait'' ( DIW, 1998) *'' Magic Triangle'' (Arabesque, 1998) *'' Soul on Soul'' (RCA, 2000) *''

Leap of Faith A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason. Overview The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he never used the term, as he ...

'' (Arabesque, 2000) *'' The Infinite'' (RCA, 2002) *'' Strange Liberation'' (Bluebird, 2003) *'' Meaning and Mystery'' (Greenleaf, 2006) *'' Live at the Jazz Standard'' (Greenleaf, 2007) With Benny Golson *'' Domingo'' (Dreyfus, 1992) With Alex Han *''Spirit (3 Deuces, 2017)'' With Lee Konitz *'' Jazz Nocturne'' (Venus/Evidence, 1992

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

With

Geoff Keezer Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. He has toured w ...

*'' World Music'' (DIW, 1992) With Pat Martino *'' Stone Blue'' (Blue Note, 1998) With Steve Masakowski *'' What It Was'' (Blue Note, 1993) With T. S. Monk *'' Take One'' (Blue Note, 1992) With

*'' Random Thoughts'' (Blue Note, 1990) With Daft Punk *''

Random Access Memories ''Random Access Memories'' is the fourth studio album by the French electronic duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. The album pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. ...

'' (Columbia, 2013) With James Williams *'' Up to The Minute Blues'' (DIW, 1994)

References

*Mark Gilbert, "James Genus". '' Grove Jazz'' online.

External links

Conversation With James Genus, 4/01/2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genus, James American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz bass guitarists Guitarists from Virginia 1966 births Living people Musicians from Hampton, Virginia American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists Saturday Night Live Band members Jazz musicians from Virginia 21st-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians