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Blessed with musical parents, James grew up in London and Yorkshire with music and musicians all around him and soon evolved from early classical piano and drum lessons with the notorious Fanny Waterman and Jimmy Blades to Jazz, Blues and Rock n Roll upon hearing John Coltrane, The Beatles, Cream and John Mayall. John Taverner "taught" him to improvise by duetting on a full size/3 console church organ and if James played anything too familiar, a great blast of atonal chords would shatter any complacency!!In the early 1970's, he formed his first band, Global Village Trucking Company, and 3 years of non-stop touring and living together established the band as one of the most sought after UK acts and their lifestyle was documented by the BBC.

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James moved into the highly lucrative world of session music in the late 70's/early 80's, playing various keyboards (Acoustic Piano, Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes, Mini Moog) and recording and touring with the likes of Frank Zappa, Joan Armatrading, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Annette Peacock, Snowy White, Shusha, Paul Buckmaster and L. Shankar among others whilst all the time fronting his own bands. All this activity brought him into contact with international artists and greatly influenced James' approach and understanding of the great power of music as an international language! He started to jam with West Indian musicians as well as learning Persian and Indian scales and rhythms and turned to his second love, drums and percussion.as well as keyboards.

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In 1980, he joined a pool of Caribbean, Japanese and European musicians that became The Breakfast Band, a legendary by-word for musical excellence throughout the country and they toured the UK and Europe, playing at the Nyon Festival, Capitol Jazz, Ronnie Scott's and recorded their new, innovative sound of Jazz/Funk with percussion and steel pan. Musicians and DJ's would queue and come in their droves to hear and watch these 7 virtuosos attacking their original material and Calypsos with sometimes break-neck speed but always with a broad smile on their faces!! They released an album that was big in Japan and spawned some hits on the club dance floors of London.

In 1983/4, James took a sabbatical from the music scene in London and drove himself and his family off on an 8 month trip in a converted Mercedes motor home to Israel, Egypt, Morocco and all over Europe.He absorbed music and culture like a sponge and started to collect instruments and whilst in Marrakech, recorded the annual Festival of Folklore in the grounds of the ruined El Badir palace. This cassette recording inspired him to follow his next dream, documenting and recording Tribal musics from around the world.

In 1984, James moved out to the US, settling in New Mexico, a mythical land of space, clean air, mountains, high desert and Native Americans! Buoyed by the interest in his Moroccan recordings he started living amongst, recording and eventually releasing traditional American Indian songs and dances on his own label, Tribal Music International. This activity attracted the local Albuquerque university station's interest and before long, he was resident DJ with his own show, Global Tribal Music, that explored the links and origins of instruments and tribes. He also started a group, It's a Small World Band, that utilised some of his growing collection of ethnic instruments and lectured on the subject of music(s) of the world. You can see the evolving theme and all this music is dedicated to Global Tribal Harmony.
 

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On his return to Europe 10 years later, James had added depth to his understanding of music and the myriad of cultures that help to create the beauty in the world! He joined Footsbarn Traveling Theatre Company, a troupe based in France and with an international cast of actors and musicians that toured India, Costa Rica, Colombia, France, Spain, Ireland and UK for 2 and a half years with a production called "L'Odysee", the ancient story of Odysseus attempting to return home after the wars. It was the first production to allow each actor to speak in his or her native tongue, from Malayalam (S. India) to Polish!! Composing the music for the show was an amazing experience and here, all the influences of his global sensibilities came to fruit, not to mention all the unusual and exotic instruments and sounds at his disposal. As well as James playing dulcimer (a newly acquired addition), Keys, balafon, thumb piano and a host of percussion, there was an Indian flute, tabla, sitar, percussionist and a Polish violinist and the instruments on stage outgrew the actors props! (They were known as 3-in-one)!It also allowed him the opportunity to conduct music workshops in different countries, something James subsequently put to good use.

In the last 4/5 years, James has continued to record tribal/folk music from places like S. India and Surinam and plays with a smorgasbord of line-ups including his own "Talking Spirit", a world music band with musicians he grew up with,

     
 

"Arteast", a Turkish/Mediterranean original fusion and a Tuesday residency with Below Solo Express Yourself, a Caribbean/Latin/Funk band in deepest Camden! He is part of Cockney Rebel that tours with Steve Harley in the UK and Europe and he has also been house composer for the London International School of Film, and composed tracks for "The Jackal" , a Universal release with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, as well as commercials, radio plays and keeps his hand in theatre through his Nigerian actress wife, Joy.

Theatre work has included being the resident composer and performer for Tiata Fahodzi, a Nigerian run company specialising in staging new plays written by UK based black writers. One of the highlights is the annual Tiata Delights staged play-readings, for which he's asked to become part of the onstage company, so that the music and ethnic instruments are more like musical scenery. Also, worked for GLYPT, Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre and the Arcola Theatre in Stoke Newington. See more in Giglist section.

James has written music for an NHS promotional docu-drama about sickle-cell disease called Family Affair with more films on the horizon, something that James is very adept at and can bring the full range of his instrument collection to the fore.

Recently, James has become part of the Carnival Messiah big band production, a Trinidad carnival take on Handel's Messiah, with a steel band orchestra playing the Hallelujah chorus and various of those beautiful and well-known melodies re-arranged into Soca, Raggae and Bhangra beats! The band includes 5 percussionists and is 12 strong.

 

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He has also been much in demand teaching privately and running workshops for disempowered, disaffected youth around the UK in schools and estates. By showing them an alternative to their current self-destuctive lifestyle, James has turned their thinking to creating positive work in the Performing Arts dept through music/ethnic instruments workshops, listening and participation. He's started work with some local kids in Leeds estates recording their original Rap songs and believes strongly in the whole range of the Performing Arts (music, acting, writing, design, movement...) as a catalyst for setting the youth on the right track and to this end, he's joined forces with a like-minded organisation called Re:generate.

 

© 2005 James Lascelles | Design by David Ahmed