In the late 70's and early 80's no artist represented the heart and soul of the No Wave/New Wave movement as clearly as James Chance. His James Chance and the Contortions and (alter-ego) James White and the Blacks were media stars all over the U.S.A. and Europe, heralding a new movement of Jazz/Punk/Funk. He was a prime time creator, leader, catalyst and motivating force. His early Brian Eno produced cuts on No New York (Antilles 1978) followed by two full vinyl albums on Mikal Zilkha's Ze Records launched a career that seemed to be like a shooting star across the mus… read more
In the late 70's and early 80's no artist represented the heart and soul of the No Wave/New Wave movement as clearly as James Chance. His J… read more
In the late 70's and early 80's no artist represented the heart and soul of the No Wave/New Wave movement as clearly as James Chance. His James Chance and the Contortions and (… read more
One of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave scene, the Contortions were led by saxophonist James Chance, aka James White (birth name James Siegfried). The group formed in New York City in 1977 and ended along with the No Wave scene in 1979. Their first recorded appearance, credited solely as the Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York. The following year, two albums were issued almost simultaneously on the ZE label, Buy the Contortions (an extreme jazz-punk LP) and Off White (a disco/standards hybrid released under the moniker James White and the Black… read more
One of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave scene, the Contortions were led by saxophonist James Chance, aka James White (birth name James Siegfried). The group formed in N… read more
One of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave scene, the Contortions were led by saxophonist James Chance, aka James White (birth name James Siegfried). The group formed in New York City in 1977 and ended along with the … read more