James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

's band. In the 1960s, he worked as a

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

, recording with

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

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 ...

, and

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

. He was also a member of

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives f ...

's quintet and the

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), Oli ...

. He went on to work with some post-bop musicians such as

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

and

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...

. Under the leadership of

Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Ellin ...

, in the 1970s, Spaulding played in the

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

Orchestra. In the 1980s, Spaulding worked with

Ricky Ford Ricky Ford (born March 4, 1954) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,) and studied at the New England Conservatory. Ricky Ford AllMusic In 1974, he recorded with Gunther Schulle ...

and, as part of an octet, with David Murray.

Discography

As leader

* 1976: ''

James Spaulding Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington ''James Spaulding Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington'' is an album by saxophonist James Spaulding featuring compositions by Duke Ellington which was recorded in 1976 and released on the Danish Storyville label.Storyville) * 1988: ''

Gotstabe a Better Way! ''Gotstabe a Better Way!'' is an album by saxophonist James Spaulding which was recorded in 1988 and released on the Muse label.Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

) * 1988: ''

Brilliant Corners ''Brilliant Corners'' is a studio album by American jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It was his third album for Riverside Records, and the first, for this label, to include his own compositions. The complex title track required over a dozen take ...

'' (Muse) * 1991: ''

Songs of Courage ''Songs of Courage'' is an album by saxophonist James Spaulding which was recorded in 1991 and released on the Muse label.Blues Nexus ''Blues Nexus'' is an album by saxophonist James Spaulding which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Muse label.The Smile of the Snake'' (

HighNote HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997. Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Hi ...

) * 1999: ''

Escapade Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) is a planned spacecraft mission to Mars consisting of two spacecraft known as ''Blue'' and ''Gold''. The mission, expected to launch in August 2024, is part of NASA's SIMPLEx progr ...

'' (HighNote) * 2001: ''Blues Up & Over'' (Speetones) * 2005: ''Round to It Vol. 2'' (Speetones) * 2006: ''Down With It'' ( Marge)

As sideman

With Louis Armstrong *'' Louis Armstrong and His Friends'' (Flying Dutchman/Amsterdam, 1970) With

Billy Bang Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American free jazz violinist and composer. Biography Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a ...

* '' Vietnam: Reflections'' (Justin Time, 2005) With

Kenny Barron Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Biography Born in Philadel ...

*''

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

'' (Muse, 1975) With

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

* '' Golden Boy'' (

Colpix Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...

, 1964) With Richard Davis * ''

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most lab ...

'' (Muse, 1977

979 Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...

With

*''

Loxodonta Africana The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

'' (New World, 1977) *'' Shorter Ideas'' (Muse, 1984) *'' Looking Ahead'' (Muse, 1986) *'' Saxotic Stomp'' (Muse, 1987) With

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

* ''

Solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structura ...

'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1964) With

* '' Hub-Tones'' (Blue Note, 1962) * '' Breaking Point!'' (Blue Note, 1964) * '' Blue Spirits'' (Blue Note, 1964) * ''

The Night of the Cookers ''The Night of the Cookers'' is a live album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded at Club La Marchal in April 1965 and released on the Blue Note label, originally as two volumes on LP. It features performances by Hubbard, Lee Morgan, James Spaul ...

'' (Blue Note, 1965) * ''

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backl ...

'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1967) * '' High Blues Pressure'' (Atlantic, 1967) * '' The Black Angel'' (Atlantic, 1969) With

Bobby Hutcherson Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...

* '' Components'' (Blue Note, 1965) * ''

Patterns A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

'' (Blue Note, 1968) *'' Ambos Mundos'' (Landmark, 1989) With

Hank Mobley Henry "Hank" Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to des ...

* ''

A Slice of the Top ''A Slice of the Top'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on March 18, 1966. The album was not released on the Blue Note label until 1979. It features performances by Mobley with a larger than usual ensemble of trumpeter Lee Morg ...

'' (Blue Note) * '' Third Season'' (Blue Note) With

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' ...

* ''

Standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

'' (1967) (Blue Note) With David Murray * '' Hope Scope'' (

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1987) * '' David Murray Big Band'' ( DIW/

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, 1991) * ''

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...

'' (1993) * '' Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead'' (1996) * ''

Octet Plays Trane ''Octet Plays Trane'' is an album by the David Murray Octet, released in 2000 on Justin Time. The musicians include Murray, Rasul Siddik, Hugh Ragin, Craig Harris, James Spaulding, Ravi Best, D. D. Jackson, Mark Johnson and Jaribu Shahid. The ...

'' (1999) With William Parker * ''

Wood Flute Songs ''Wood Flute Songs'' (subtitled ''Anthology/Live 2006–2012'') is an eight-CD box set by bassist and composer William Parker which was recorded in California in 2006, Houston in 2007, Geneva and Montreal in 2011and New York in 2009 and 2012, and ...

'' ( AUM Fidelity, 2013) With

Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ''Allmusic'' describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record produ ...

* '' Wahoo!'' (Blue Note 1964) * '' Honeybuns'' (Atlantic 1965) * ''

Prairie Dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico ...

'' (Atlantic 1966) * '' Sweet Honey Bee'' (Blue Note 1966) With Sam Rivers * '' Dimensions & Extensions'' (1967) With

* '' Drums Unlimited'' (Atlantic, 1965) With

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of " sheets of sound", S ...

* ''

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...

'' (1969) With

* '' Woody III'' (Columbia, 1979) * '' For Sure!'' (Columbia, 1979) With

* '' The Soothsayer'' (Blue Note 1965) * ''

The All Seeing Eye ''The All Seeing Eye'' is the ninth jazz album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, recorded on October 15, 1965, and released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4219 and BST 84219 in 1966. The album features performances by Shorter with trumpeter Freddie H ...

'' (Blue Note 1965) * ''

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

'' (Blue Note 1967) With

* '' The Jody Grind'' (Blue Note 1966) With

* '' Visits Planet Earth'' (1957–1958) * '' The Nubians of Plutonia'' (1958) * '' Jazz in Silhouette'' (1959) * '' Sound Sun Pleasure!!'' (1959) * '' Somewhere Else'' ( Rounder, 1988–89) * ''

Purple Night ''Purple Night'' is a studio album by free jazz pioneer Sun Ra. It was released in 1990 on A&M Records. Background The album was the second in a short-term recording deal with A&M Records, as part of their "Modern Masters Jazz Series" imprint. ...

'' ( A&M, 1990) With

Leon Thomas Amos Leon Thomas Jr. (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999), known professionally as Leon Thomas, was an American jazz and blues vocalist, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and known for his bellowing glottal-stop style of free jazz singing in the ...

*''

Spirits Known and Unknown ''Spirits Known and Unknown'' , subtitled ''New Vocal Frontiers'', is the debut album by American jazz vocalist and percussionist Leon Thomas recorded in 1969 and released by the Flying Dutchman label.The Leon Thomas Album'' (Flying Dutchman, 1970) With

Charles Tolliver Charles Tolliver (born 1942) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and co-founder of Strata East Records. Biography Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1942 and moved with his family to New York City when he was 10. During his ch ...

* ''

The New Wave in Jazz ''The New Wave in Jazz'' is a live album recorded on March 28, 1965 at the Village Gate in New York City. It features groups led by major avant-garde jazz artists performing at a concert for the benefit of The Black Arts Repertory Theater/School fo ...

'' (Impulse!, 1965) * ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

'' ( Strata-East, 1975) With

* '' The Return of the Prodigal Son'' (1967) * ''Rough n'Tumble'' (Blue Note 1966) * ''The Spoiler'' (Blue Note 1967) With

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gr ...

* '' Tender Moments'' (Blue Note, 1968) With

Tyrone Washington Tyrone Lamar Washington (born September 16, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Houston Rockets in the 1999 NBA draft. However, he p ...

* ''

Natural Essence ''Natural Essence'' is the debut album by American saxophonist Tyrone Washington featuring performances recorded in 1967 and released on the Blue Note label.

'' (Blue Note 1967) With Larry Young * '' Of Love and Peace'' (Blue Note 1966) With Kamal Abdul-Alim * ''Dance'' (1983)

References

External links

Interview at All About Jazz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaulding, James American jazz flautists American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists 1937 births Living people Musicians from Indianapolis Sun Ra Arkestra members Muse Records artists HighNote Records artists World Saxophone Quartet members 21st-century American saxophonists American male jazz musicians 21st-century flautists