James Chance | Artist

James Siegfried aka James Chance aka James White, is an American saxophonist, keyboard player, songwriter and singer born 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A key figure in no-wave scene, Chance has been leading improvisational jazz-punk bands since the late 1970s. Bands such as Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, James White and the Contortions, and James White and the Blacks were at the forefront of the downtown NYC avant-garde music scene of the late 1970s. "No wave" was a transient avant-garde music and art movement reacting against punk's rock’n’roll clichés, instead experimenting with noise, dissonance and atonality. Chance made a name with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, featuring Lydia Lunch (vocals, guitar), Chance (saxophone) and future Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos (bass). His next band, The Contortions, fused jazz improvisation and funky rhythms, with live shows often ending in violence with Chance confronting audience members. Both bands reached a wider audience by their inclusion in the excellent Brian Eno-compiled No New York collection. Chance then formed James White and the Blacks, followed by various lineup combinations. Standout recordings include the compilation No New York (1978), Buy (1979) by James Chance and the Contortions, Off White (1979) and Sax Maniac (1982) by James White and the Blacks, plus the excellent 2010 compilation Twist Your Soul. Chance continues to perform and record occasionally. In Europe, he performs with James Chance & Les Contortions, a French backing band since 2006. In 2016, 19-year-old Dylan Greenberg directed James Chance in the music video for a re-recorded version of "Melt Yourself Down", Chance’s first music video in nearly 20 years. The video premiered on MOJO.

Artist Website: jameschanceofficial.blogspot.com

Featured Albums: James Chance

Related Artists: James White and the Blacks, The Contortions, Lydia Lunch, Arturo Lindsay, No New York, The Raybeats

Video Clips: Contort Yourself, I Can't Stand Myself, Melt Yourself Down