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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. |
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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.
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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 Sunday residency with a funk/blues
band in deepest Kilburn! 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.
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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 Regenerate.
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©
2005 James Lascelles | Design by
David Ahmed
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