Stafford James

In 1971 he met Melba Moore, and played with her as part of the David Frost Revue including Artie Johnson, Diahann Carroll and Fred Travalena.In 1986, he composed an Ethiopia Suite for two basses, string ensemble, drums and 10 dancers for the Celebrate Brooklyn Dance Festival in a collaboration with choreographer Stephan Koplowitz.That same year, he toured in Canada performing the music of Franz Schubert and then with his return to the United States arranged compositions by Duke Ellington[1] for an trio ensemble consisting of himself, pianist Mulgrew Miller and cellist Akua Dixon.He then composed Les Alpes aux Carpates for solo bass, two pan flutes, string orchestra, women's choir, synthesizers and drums in 1995 and premiered the work in Die, France.In 1998 he toured Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Italy in a quartet with Buster Williams, Anga Diaz (later Don Alias), and Ronnie Burrage.In 2008, his new recording The Stafford James String Ensemble was released by Staja Music, featuring Ralph Morrison, Sara Parkins, Jennie Hansen, Wolf Sebastian and Douglas Sides.Also in 2011, Stafford's composition "That's what dreams are made of" was utilized in the French television series Le Grand Restaurant (TV show) [fr] by Pierre Palmade.Musicians included: Richard Davis,[1] Ray Mantilla,[1] Warren Smith,[1] Ely Fountain, Geraldo de Oliveira, Geof Bradfield, Scott Hesse, String Quartet with Carol Lahti, Becky Coffman, Vannia Phillips, Andrew Snow and Stafford James as soloist.With Rashied Ali With Albert Ayler With Gary Bartz With Andrew Cyrille With Kenny Gill With Dexter Gordon With Bill Hardman With Louis Hayes With Jimmy Heath With LaVelle With Oliver Lake With Ronnie Mathews With Cecil Payne With Roswell Rudd With Pharoah Sanders With Woody Shaw