James Chance Musical artist

James Chance, also known as James White (born April 20, 1953 as James Siegfried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), is an American saxophonist, keyboard player, songwriter and singer.A key figure in No Wave, Chance has been playing a combination of improvisational jazz-like music and punk in the New York music scene since the late 1970s, in such bands as Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, James Chance and the Contortions, James White and the Blacks (as he appeared in the film Downtown 81), The Flaming Demonics, James Chance & the Sardonic Symphonics, James Chance and Terminal City, and James Chance and Les Contortions.Chance differed from some of his no wave compatriots by possessing (and demanding from his band) a certain level of musical skill and talent. His music can be described as combining the freeform playing of Ornette Coleman with the solid funk rhythm of James Brown, though filtered through a punk rock lens.

Personal facts

James Chance
Alias (AKA)James White
Birth dateApril 20, 1953
Birth place
Milwaukee

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Musical artist

Career started1976
associated musical artist
Lydia Lunch
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
James Chance and the Contortions
BackgroundSolo singer
genre
No wave
Dance-punk
Punk jazz
Post-punk
instrument
Alto saxophone
Keyboard instrument
Singing
record label
ZE Records

James Chance on Wikipedia

External resources

  1. http://geocities.com/pill_factory
  2. http://jameschanceofficial.blogspot.com
  3. http://www.discogs.com/Various-Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers-Jukebox/release/373693
  4. http://www.zerecords.com/2010/artists_biography.php?id=10