Hailing from what sounds like an Oklahoma town full of panhandlers, this artist spent more than half a century on the jazz scene, playing on more than 60 records by the time he retired in the early '80s. George James was just as likely to play under the orchestra on bass saxophone as he was to soar out over the top on soprano saxophone, clarinet, or flute. He also played all the reeds in between, seeming to be almost constantly employed in a series of bands that began in the late '20s with Charlie Creath's Number Two Band and Johnny Neal's Syncopaters and eventually included collaborations with stars such as Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller.

James really didn't stay that long out West, attending high school in St. Louis and moving to Chicago in 1928. In the Windy City he worked with a variety of bandleaders, such as Jimmie Noone, Sammy Stewart, Ida Marples, and Bert Hall. He also began leading his own group. In the early '30s he was closely associated with Noone for several years until he began touring with Louis Armstrong near the close of 1931. When one of the tours ended in New York, James stayed on there and tried his luck in groups such as the Savoy Bearcats and Charlie Turner's Arcadians. Fortune smiled on the latter musical situation: Fats Waller took over, turned it into his own orchestra, and kept James busy through 1937.

The reed maestro flew with the Blackbirds Revue until the close of the '30s, then was associated with such masters of syncopation as James P. Johnson, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, and Lucky Millinder. James revived his own group in 1943, grabbing the house band gig at a pair of popular nightclubs. He was back with Johnson in 1944 but continued activities as a bandleader in several different locales, including Pittsburgh and Detroit. By the mid-'40s James had become a part of an orchestra led by the fine pianist Claude Hopkins, followed by several years with a similar ensemble helmed by Noble Sissle. For the last decades of his career, James continued the combination of his own group and sideman affiliations. In the '70s he undertook some of his most extensive international touring as a member of Clyde Bernhardt's band. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi