James Westfall

Last updated
James Westfall
Born1981
Houston, Texas
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, rock
Instrument(s) Vibraphone, keytar
Years active2003–present
LabelsBionic
Website jameswestfall.com

James Westfall is a jazz vibraphonist and keyboardist born in Houston, Texas.

Contents

He began on violin at age 6 before moving to piano and then percussion. He became interested in vibraphone due in part to his grandfather. (Who learned the instrument during the great depression). He later moved to New Orleans where he attended the University of New Orleans. In New Orleans he studied under Terence Blanchard, Harold Battiste, Steve Masakowski and Ellis Marsalis Jr. Later he moved to Los Angeles, California where he was part of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. At present he lives in Nashville working as a studio musician.

Westfall is also a founding member of The Wee Trio.

Westfall was part of the inspiration for Paul Rudd’s character in Anchorman.

Discography

As sideman

Related Research Articles

Wellman Braud was an American jazz upright bassist. His family sometimes spelled their last name "Breaux", pronounced "Bro".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Teagarden</span> American jazz trombonist and singer (1905–1964)

Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 1940s and "one of the best jazz singers too". Teagarden's early career was as a sideman with the likes of Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pee Wee Russell</span> American jazz clarinetist (1906–1969)

Charles Ellsworth "Pee Wee" Russell was an American jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Giuffre</span> American jazz musician

James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Hackett</span> American jazz trumpeter (1915–1976)

Robert Leo Hackett was a versatile American jazz musician who played Swing music, Dixieland jazz and Mood music, now called Easy Listening, on trumpet, cornet, and guitar. He played Swing with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he played Dixieland music from the 1930s into the 1970s in a variety of groups with many of the major figures in the field, and he was a featured soloist on the first ten of the numerous Jackie Gleason mood music albums during the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Marsalis</span> American drummer

Jason Marsalis is an American jazz drummer, vibraphone player, composer, producer, band leader, and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis, Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellis Marsalis Jr.</span> American jazz pianist and educator (1934–2020)

Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the musical Marsalis family, when sons Branford and Wynton became popular jazz musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie Houston</span> American jazz musician

Reggie Houston is an American musician who plays soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone and baritone saxophone. He is best known for his association with the New Orleans pianist Fats Domino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Freeman</span> American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer

Lawrence "Bud" Freeman was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Wilber</span> American jazz clarinetist, composer and saxophonist

Robert Sage Wilber was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and band leader. Although his scope covers a wide range of jazz, Wilber was a dedicated advocate of classic styles, working throughout his career to present traditional jazz pieces in a contemporary manner. He played with many distinguished jazz leaders in the 1950s and 1960s, including Bobby Hackett, Benny Goodman, Sidney Bechet, Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon. In the late 1960s, he was an original member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and in the early 70s of Soprano Summit, a band which gained wide attention. In the late 1970s, he formed the Bechet Legacy Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmond Hall</span> American jazz clarinetist and bandleader

Edmond Hall was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Over his career, Hall worked extensively with many leading performers as both a sideman and bandleader and is possibly best known for the 1941 chamber jazz song "Profoundly Blue".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Singleton (musician)</span> American jazz bassist, composer, and producer

James Singleton is an American acoustic bassist, composer, and producer. He is a member of the New Orleans-based jazz group Astral Project with Johnny Vidacovich, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski. He has been described as one of the best and most sought-after bassists in New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Vidacovich</span> American jazz percussionist

John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Margitza</span> Musical artist

Rick Margitza is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Powell</span> American jazz and ragtime drummer (born 1962)

Shannon Powell is an American jazz and ragtime drummer. He has toured internationally and played with Ellis Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Danny Barker, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Diana Krall, Earl King, Dr. John, Preservation Hall, Marcus Roberts, John Scofield, Jason Marsalis, Leroy Jones, Nicholas Payton, and Donald Harrison Jr. Powell toured and recorded with fellow New Orleans native, Harry Connick Jr.

Fabian Almazan is a jazz pianist and composer born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Miami, Florida.

<i>What It Was</i> 1993 studio album by Steve Masakowski

What It Was is an album by American jazz guitarist Steve Masakowski featuring performances recorded in 1993 for the Blue Note Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Masakowski</span> American guitarist, educator, and inventor

Steve Masakowski is an American jazz guitarist, educator, and inventor. He invented the guitar-based keytar and the switch pick, and has designed three custom-built seven-string guitars. He developed an approach to playing the guitar by using his pick design, allowing him to switch from fingerpicking to flatpicking.

The Wee Trio is an American jazz band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sasha Masakowski</span> American jazz singer (born 1986)

Sasha Masakowski is an American jazz singer. She was born in New Orleans and is the daughter of jazz guitarist Steve Masakowski and concert pianist Ulrike Antonie Sprenger. She heard jazz at an early age due to her father's association with Ellis Marsalis Jr.

References