John James is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

musician, who was prominent in the early 1990s for his

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

-influenced brand of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

."Reinforcement for a solid reputation". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', March 25, 1990. p. D4. He released two albums, ''Big Fat Soul'' in 1989 and ''Mothers of Hope'' in 1993. He garnered two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nominations at the

Juno Awards of 1991 The Juno Awards of 1991, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 3 March 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia at a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Paul Shaffer was the host for the ceremonie ...

, for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year and Dance Recording of the Year for his single "I Wanna Know", and one nomination at the

Juno Awards of 1994 The Juno Awards of 1994, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 20 March 1994 in Toronto at a ceremony in the Hummingbird Centre, O'Keefe Centre. Roch Voisine was the host for the ceremonies, which ...

for R&B/Soul Recording for ''Mothers of Hope''."Juno Award nominees". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', February 9, 1994. p. D20. Prior to releasing his own recordings, James was a session musician, including playing

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

on Corey Hart's "

Sunglasses at Night "Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984, as the first single from his debut album, 1983's '' First Offense'', and became a chart hit, rising to number seven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...

" and opening for

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

during their farewell tour.

Discography

*''Big Fat Soul'' (1989) *''Mothers of Hope'' (1992)

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Singers from Toronto Canadian male singers Living people Canadian dance musicians Canadian session musicians People from Woodstock, Ontario Canadian male saxophonists 21st-century Canadian saxophonists 21st-century Canadian male musicians {{Canada-singer-stub