Harry James

Harry James (born March 15, 1916, Albany, Ga., U.S.—died July 5, 1983, Las Vegas, Nev.) was an American jazz musician and bandleader, and one of the most popular and dynamic trumpet players of the big band era.

The son of circus performers, James learned to play drums at age 4 and the trumpet at 8; when he was 12 he led one of the circus bands. As a young man he played with various orchestras, including a stint with Ben Pollack in 1935–36. He became a member of Benny Goodman’s orchestra in December 1936. In that band he joined trumpeters Ziggy Elman and Chris Griffin to form the “powerhouse trio,” one of the most celebrated big band trumpet sections in jazz history. James was the primary soloist in the section and soared to fame with his solo turns on such songs as “Ridin’ High,” “Sing, Sing, Sing,” and “One o’Clock Jump.” He also composed and arranged “Life Goes to a Party,” a tune that was regarded as one of the Goodman band’s best swing numbers.

James’s playing style was bold, loud, and brassy, with a full-bodied tone even in extreme registers. Jazz historian Gunther Schuller rated James as “the most technically assured and prodigiously talented white trumpet player of the late Swing Era and early postwar years, both as an improvising jazz and blues player and as a richly expressive ballad performer.” James’s playing with Goodman and with the studio bands (featuring members of the Count Basie Orchestra) he led during the late 1930s are perhaps the best examples of his early jazz style.

James had left the Goodman band and established his own orchestra by 1939; he used the European folk song “Chiribiribin” as his theme song. Intially, success proved elusive. Perhaps the band’s most notable performer during its early days was singer Frank Sinatra; he sang with the James band for six months in 1939 but did not gain a following until he joined Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra the following year. The James-Sinatra recording of “All or Nothing at All” was a flop when first released in 1939, but it sold more than a million copies when rereleased in 1943.

The turning point for James came in 1941. In April he had a hit with “Music Makers” (which resulted in the occasional billing of his band as “Harry James and His Music Makers”). Later that year he had an even bigger hit with an instrumental rendition of “You Made Me Love You,” which established him as one of the top bandleaders of the day. The band had further hits in the next few years, including “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” “I’ll Get By,” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light.” Popular vocalists such as Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, and Kitty Kallen contributed greatly to the band’s success during this time. James was so popular in the early 1940s that his record label (Columbia) was at one point unable to press enough of his records to meet demand.

James’s fame grew when he married film star Betty Grable in 1943. He also appeared in a number of movies, including Springtime in the Rockies (1942), Two Girls and a Sailor (1946), and I’ll Get By (1950). He appeared on popular television shows often in the 1950s and ’60s, and his songs continued to be heard in movie sound tracks into the 21st century.

Although ballads and commercial arrangements marked James’s most popular period, he remained a jazz player at heart. Once his success had been established, he gradually returned to his jazz roots in the late 1940s. By the early 1950s, his band was modeling itself somewhat after the Count Basie Orchestra, and such noted arrangers as Neal Hefti and Ernie Wilkins provided charts for both James’s and Basie’s bands.

Extensive touring and numerous recording sessions defined James’s final two decades as a performer. Although his act was built largely on nostalgic appeal, the bands he assembled were always of top calibre. He alternated lengthy engagements at Las Vegas hotels and casinos with several national and international tours, performing until the end of his life.