William "Billy" James (April 20, 1936 – November 20, 2009) was 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer.

Early life

James was born and raised in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He began performing jazz at the age of 15.

Career

James worked with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

and

Booker Ervin Booker Telleferro Ervin II (October 31, 1930 – August 31, 1970) was an American tenor saxophone player. His tenor playing was characterised by a strong, tough sound and blues/gospel phrasing. He is remembered for his association with bassi ...

in the 1950s, and in the early 1960s with James Moody,

Candido Camero Candido is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Candido Amantini (1914–1992), Italian Roman Catholic priest * Candido Camero, known simply as "Candido" (1921–2020), Cuban percussionist * Candido ...

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

, Don Patterson, and

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Edward F. Davis (March 2, 1922 – November 3, 1986), known professionally as Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. It is unclear how he acquired the moniker "Lockjaw" (later shortened to "Jaws"): it is either said that ...

. He and Patterson frequently recorded as a duo. James led his own groups in the latter half of the 1960s and worked further with Stitt during this time as well as with

Eric Kloss Eric Kloss (born April 3, 1949) is an American jazz saxophonist. Music career Kloss was born blind in Greenville, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and attended Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, which was run by his father. When he was ...

. Later associations include

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

and

Houston Person Houston Person (born November 10, 1934) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing music, swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He re ...

Discography

With

* '' Instant Death'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1971) * '' Eddie Harris Sings the Blues'' (Atlantic, 1972) * '' Excursions'' (Atlantic, 1973) * '' Is It In'' (Atlantic, 1973) With Don Patterson * '' Goin' Down Home'' (

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

, 1963

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* '' The Exciting New Organ of Don Patterson'' (

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

, 1964) * '' Hip Cake Walk'' (Prestige, 1964) * '' Patterson's People'' (Prestige, 1964) * '' Holiday Soul'' (Prestige, 1964) * '' Satisfaction!'' (Prestige, 1965) * '' The Boss Men'' (Prestige, 1965) * '' Soul Happening!'' (Prestige, 1966) * '' Mellow Soul'' (Prestige, 1967) * '' Four Dimensions'' (Prestige, 1967) * '' Boppin' & Burnin''' (Prestige, 1968) * '' Opus De Don'' (Prestige, 1968) * '' Funk You!'' (Prestige, 1968) * '' Brothers-4'' (Prestige, 1969) * '' Donny Brook'' (Prestige, 1969) * ''

Tune Up! ''Tune Up!'' is an album by organist Don Patterson (organist), Don Patterson featuring tracks recorded in 1964 and 1969 which was released by Prestige Records, Prestige in 1971.Movin' Up!'' (Muse, 1977) With

* '' Boss Tenors in Orbit!'' (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

, 1962) -with

* '' Feelin's...'' ( Roost, 1962) * '' Low Flame'' ( Jazzland, 1962) * ''

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...

'' (Prestige, 1964) * '' Soul People'' (Prestige, 1964) * '' Night Crawler'' (Prestige, 1965) * '' Deuces Wild'' (Atlantic, 1966) * '' Made for Each Other'' ( Delmark, 1968

972 Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recently held by the Kievan Rus', into six ...

* '' Soul Electricity!'' (Prestige, 1968) * ''

It's Magic "It's Magic" is a popular song written by Jule Styne, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, published in 1947. They wrote the song for Doris Day in her Warner Brothers film debut, ''Romance on the High Seas'' (retitled ''It's Magic'' in the United Kingdom, ...

'' (Delmark, 1969

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* ''Just The Way It Was (Live At The Left Bank)'' (Label M, 1971

000 Triple zero, Zero Zero Zero, 0-0-0 or variants may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * 000, the size of several small List of screw drives, screw drives * 0-0-0, a Droid (Star Wars)#0-0-0, dro ...

With others * ''Legends Of Acid Jazz: Gene Ammons'' (Prestige, 1997) -included as a CD bonus is the single, "I Can't Stop Loving You" b/w "My Babe" rgo 5417 recorded in 1962 by Gene Ammons with the Don Patterson/Paul Weeden/Billy James trio, and later released on the various artists compilation ''The Soul Jazz Giants'' restige 7791in 1971. *

, ''

I Only Have Eyes for You "I Only Have Eyes for You" is a song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin. The song was written for the 1934 film ''Dames (film), Dames'', in which it was performed by Dick Powell. Several other successful recordings of the song were m ...

'' (Prestige, 1962) * Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, '' Trackin''' (Prestige, 1962) *

, '' Introducing Eric Kloss'' (Prestige, 1965) * Eric Kloss, '' Love and All That Jazz'' (Prestige, 1966) *

, ''

Heavy Juice ''Heavy Juice'' is an album by saxophonist Houston Person recorded in 1982 and released on the Muse label.Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1982) *

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in P ...

/Don Patterson/Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, ''

Stompin' ''Stompin'' is an album by organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1961 (with one track from 1960) and released on the Prestige Records, Prestige label in 1967.Payne, DShirley Scott discographyaccessed June 29, 2012 Reception The Allmusic review awar ...

'' (Prestige, 1967) * Clarence Wheeler, ''The New Chicago Blues'' (Atlantic, 1973) * Various Artists, ''Blue Note Records Presents The Lost Sessions'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 1999) -this compilation includes one track ("Lady Be Good") from the aborted Sonny Stitt/

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

session (on 5/14//62) featuring the Don Patterson/Paul Weeden/Billy James trio. * Gene Ludwig, ''The Groove ORGANization'' (Blues Leaf, 2002) -with Bob DeVos * Bob DeVos, ''DeVos' Groove Guitar!'' (Blues Leaf, 2003) -with Gene Ludwig * Dan Fogel, ''Soul Eyes'' (Laughing Waters, 2004) -with Tony Ventura (guitar)

References

;Footnotes ;General references *"Billy James". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

, 2004. 1936 births 2009 deaths American jazz drummers Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania American male drummers Drummers from Pittsburgh {{US-jazz-drummer-stub