James Edward Hopps Jr. (born 1939) is an American jazz drummer. Although he never recorded as a leader, he worked extensively with Roland Kirk, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, and Pharoah Sanders during some of their well known sessions. He also worked with Sahib Shihab, Joe Bonner, Cecil McBee, Marion Brown, Shirley Scott, Jan Garbarek, and Arild Andersen. [1]
Kazumi Watanabe's Mudari - Spirit Of Song features Hopps as a co-leader. [2]
Hopps retired from jazz in the late 1970's. In 1978 he legally changed his name to Jimmi EsSpirit.
He made a brief return on A Song for the Sun, by the Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen, under the name Jimmi EsSpirit.
With Stanley Cowell
With Roland Kirk
With Charles Tolliver
With others