James Genus
Encyclopedia
James Genus is an American jazz
bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band
. Genus has performed as a session musician
and sideman
throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.
Genus was born in Hampton, Virginia
. He began on guitar at age six and switched to bass at 13. He studied at Virginia Commonwealth University
from 1983 to 1987 and played for a summer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Then moved to New York City
, where he quickly began working with many noted players on the city's jazz scene. He has played with Out of the Blue
(1988–89), Horace Silver
(1989), Roy Haynes
and Don Pullen
(1989–91), Nat Adderley
(1990), Greg Osby
and New York Voices
(1990–91), Jon Faddis
(1991), T.S. Monk (1991), Benny Golson
(1991), Dave Kikoski (1991), Bob Berg
(1991–96), Geoffrey Keezer (1992), Lee Konitz
(1992), Michael Brecker
(1992–96), Bob James
(since 1994), Michel Camilo
(since 1995), Elysian Fields
(since 1995), Branford Marsalis
(1996), Chick Corea
(1996), Dave Douglas (1996), Uri Caine
(1997), Global Theory (1997), Bill Evans (saxophonist)
(2005) and Herbie Hancock
(2008).
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band
Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band is the house band of the NBC television program Saturday Night Live .-Noteworthy members:...
. Genus has performed as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.
Genus was born in Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
. He began on guitar at age six and switched to bass at 13. He studied at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
from 1983 to 1987 and played for a summer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he quickly began working with many noted players on the city's jazz scene. He has played with Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (band)
Out of the Blue was an American jazz ensemble founded by Blue Note Records in the 1980s as a showcase for the label's younger musicians. They formed in 1984, releasing four albums and touring extensively over the next five years. Their most commercially successful album was 1986's Live at Mt....
(1988–89), Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
(1989), Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
Roy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
and Don Pullen
Don Pullen
Don Pullen was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed masterworks ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz...
(1989–91), Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
(1990), Greg Osby
Greg Osby
Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
and New York Voices
New York Voices
New York Voices is an American vocal music group. The group was formed in 1987 from an Ithaca College alumni group. The original group consisted of Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger. They released their first, self-titled album on GRP Records in 1989...
(1990–91), Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
(1991), T.S. Monk (1991), Benny Golson
Benny Golson
Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
(1991), Dave Kikoski (1991), Bob Berg
Bob Berg
Bob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
(1991–96), Geoffrey Keezer (1992), Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
(1992), Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
(1992–96), Bob James
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James is a jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer.-Biography:During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in establishing the smooth jazz genre. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date...
(since 1994), Michel Camilo
Michel Camilo
Michel Camilo is a pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work...
(since 1995), Elysian Fields
Elysian Fields
-General use:* Elysium, in Greek mythology, the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous- Places :* Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey, site of the first organized baseball game* Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans* Elysian Fields, Texas...
(since 1995), Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
(1996), Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
(1996), Dave Douglas (1996), Uri Caine
Uri Caine
Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...
(1997), Global Theory (1997), Bill Evans (saxophonist)
Bill Evans (saxophonist)
Bill Evans is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago...
(2005) and Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
(2008).
As Sideman
With Don PullenDon Pullen
Don Pullen was an American jazz pianist and organist. Pullen developed a strikingly individual style throughout his career. He composed masterworks ranging from blues to bebop and modern jazz...
- Random ThoughtsRandom Thoughts (Don Pullen album)Random Thoughts is an album by American jazz pianist Don Pullen recorded in 1990 for the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4½ stars stating "As bent upon pianistic mayhem as Don Pullen often seemed, this was one of his more user-friendly discs,...
(Blue Note, 1990)