Coming from a musical family, his father also a drummer, James began learning the drums and piano in 1993, aged 8.

 

Choosing to focus on the drums as a teenager, James became involved with many different groups including Rock, Pop and Jazz bands, and classical music orchestras and ensembles.  Lessons continued with some fantastic teachers, including Graham Instrall and Solly Ezra.

 

Discovering his passion lay in music whilst at University, James surrounded himself with as much music as possible, covering many styles: Jazz, Funk, Pop, Rock, Soul/RnB, Latin, Hip-Hop, Drum n Bass and more.

 

In 2008, James began studying with renowned drum teacher Bob Armstrong, who has taught many of the top UK players.  This made a huge impact on James' playing and has been invaluable in all areas of his musicianship.

 

Today, with a vast amount of experience as a professional musician, James finds himself busy with many different projects covering all styles of music, from original groups/artists and function bands, to Big Band and small group jazz projects, military style Drumlines and studio/session work.  Theatre work is a regular feature as well, and James has played on shows including Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Avenue Q, The Wedding Singer, Our House, The Wiz and many more.

 

James has travelled all over the UK and Europe, playing venues and events including The Montreux Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club, Twickenham Stadium (for the Rugby World Cup 2015), Pizza Express Jazz Club (Soho), Knebworth Park and many more.

James has played live and on recordings for BBC Radio, Jazz FM, Freestyle Records, and Imagem Production Music.

 

Teaching is also a part of James' work, visit the Teaching page to find out more.