James Chance

James Chance aka James White aka James Black, born James Siegfried in Milwaukee, is a No Wave saxophonist who 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 & the Jerks, James Chance and the Contortions, James White and the Blacks, James Chance & the Sardonic Symphonics, and James Chance and Terminal Velocity.

Related Topics:
No Wave - Teenage Jesus & the Jerks - James Chance and the Contortions - James White and the Blacks - James Chance & the Sardonic Symphonics - James Chance and Terminal Velocity

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While he was professionally and romantically linked with No Wave musical luminary Lydia Lunch the duo created seminal No Wave group Teenage Jesus & The Jerks; then after Chance quit the group in 1978 due to professional differences, the pair collaborated on the album 'Off White' (released by 'James White and the Blacks' with 'Stella Rico').

Related Topics:
No Wave - Lydia Lunch - 1978

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Chance's stage and musical persona were finalized by romantic partner and agent Anya Philips, whose death from cancer in 1981 coincided with Chance's withdrawal from public visibility for over a decade, before reappearing in the mid-1990s.

Related Topics:
Anya Philips - 1990s

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Chance (and his followers) differed from some of his No Wave compatriots by possessing and demanding from his band a certain level of musical aptitude and talent. His music is frequently described as combining the freeform playing of Ornette Coleman with the solid funk rhythm of James Brown.

Related Topics:
Ornette Coleman - James Brown

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Chance was noted for engaging in physical confrontations, from pushing contests to fisticuffs, with his audience, including rock critic Robert Christgau http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1820&name=James+Chance+and+the+Contortions. This practice is reported to have somewhat diminished after a series of lawsuits and physical injuries.

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