James Westfall is a jazz vibraphonist and keyboardist born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He began on violin at age 6 before moving to piano and then percussion. He became interested in

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

due in part to his grandfather. He attended the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

. In New Orleans he studied under

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He has also written two operas and more than 80 film and television scores. Blanchard has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Score for ''B ...

Harold Battiste Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. (October 28, 1931 – June 19, 2015) was an American music composer, arranger, performer, and teacher. A native of, and later community leader in, New Orleans, he is best known for his work as an arranger on record ...

Steve Masakowski Steve Masakowski (born September 2, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist, educator, and inventor. He invented the guitar-based keytar and the switch pick, and has designed three custom-built seven-string guitars. He developed an approach to playi ...

and

Ellis Marsalis Jr. Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (November 14, 1934 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the Marsalis musical family, whe ...

Later he moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he was part of the

Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education organization founded in 1986. Before 2019, it was known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, but was then renamed after its longtime board chairman, Herbie Hancock. The i ...

. At present he lives in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

working as a studio musician. Westfall is a founding member of The Wee Trio.

Discography

* ''Capitol Diner Vol. 1'' with the Wee Trio (Bionic, 2007) * ''Capitol Diner Vol. 2'' with the Wee Trio (Bionic, 2010) * ''Ashes to Ashes'' with the Wee Trio (Bionic, 2012) * ''Wee + 3'' with the Wee Trio (Bionic, 2016)

As sideman

Sasha Masakowski Sasha Masakowski (born 1986) is an American jazz singer. She was born in New Orleans and is the daughter of jazz guitarist Steve Masakowski and concert pianist Ulrike Antonie Sprenger. She heard jazz at an early age due to her father's associati ...

, ''Wishes'' (Hypersoul, 2011)

References

External links

All About Jazz musician profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfall, James American jazz vibraphonists Musicians from Houston Living people 1981 births Jazz musicians from Houston Jazz musicians from Texas