Musician James Chance, Who Blended Punk Rock Aggression with Funk and Free Jazz Expression, Has Died At Age 71
James Chance, the singer, saxophonist, bandleader and composer who in the late 1970s emerged from New York’s “No Wave” scene to embody the genre known as “punk funk,” died today at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York. His death was announced by his brother David Siegfried of Chicago, who did not specify a cause of death but noted that the musician’s health had been in decline for several years. His final live performance is believed to have taken place in March 2019 in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
James Alan Siegfried was born April 20, 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began playing piano under the tutelage of nuns at his Catholic elementary school and took up alto saxophone at age eighteen. He attended but did not earn degrees from Michigan State University and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee. During these years he formed two bands, the jazz-oriented James Siegfried Quintet and the Stooges-influenced Death (not to be confused with a contemporaneous Detroit band of the same name).
After the dissolution of Death, he moved to New York in 1975 and began using the name James Chance. He formed a quartet called Flaming Youth before joining “No Wave” progenitors Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, featuring singer, guitarist and lyricist Lydia Lunch. (Recordings by this lineup were issued by ZE Records in 1979 as an EP, Pre Teenage Jesus And The Jerks.) In 1977, after a period of study with saxophonist David Murray, James formed the first version of the Contortions with guitarists Jody Harris and Pat Place, bassist George Scott III (deceased), drummer Don Christiansen, and keyboards player/vocalist Adele Bertei.
Reviewing a May 1978 performance by the Contortions at Artists Space in Lower Manhattan, Roy Trakin wrote in New York Rocker magazine: “Mr. Chance immediately established his personal space at the top of his performance by kicking out all those artist types sitting crosslegged within about a six-foot radius of his band, as he snarled and smirked with unmerciful obnoxiousness. The band, meanwhile, lay down a thick mixture of semi-syncopated, twisted swirls of sound, creating a tension of unfinished beats and incomplete rhythms.” Initially, the naturally shy and introverted front man became known as much for his on-stage aggression as for his music.
In 1979, an altered Contortions lineup (minus Adele Bertei and with David Hofstra on bass) released the debut album Buy on ZE Records. In the same year, ZE released “Off White” by James White and the Blacks, and the musician would toggle between these two appellations for the remainder of his career.
“James was the first artist I signed and provided the blueprint for future ZE Records,” says label founder Michael Zilkha. “I was seeking a fusion of disco and punk, and James was too. Once he transformed the Contortions into the slower and slinkier James White and the Blacks, it paved the way for my other bands and a whole slew of contemporaries. James was serious and devoted to his craft and a brilliant and original musician. It was an honor to work with him and I will miss him greatly.”
The Contortions’ breakup was accompanied by acrimony over issues of credit and compensation. But any hard feelings would dissipate with time and James’ occasional reunions with the former members. Bassist David Hofstra recalls a one-off duo performance in New York with James playing piano for a set of Thelonious Monk compositions.
Beginning in 2003, James reunited with original members of the Contortions to perform a series of engagements, including two performances at the “All Tomorrow’s Parties” music festival in Los Angeles. In his Variety review, Steve Mirkin hailed the band’s singular brand of “art-damaged funk, like James Brown dancing on the edge of the abyss. When they take on Brown’s ‘I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me),’ they mean it.” James later reunited with friends Deborah Harry and Chris Stein for several guest appearances with Blondie; and he continued to tour internationally with several groups, including the French “Le Contortions,” until 2019.
“Despite the mad darkness of the Contortions in late ‘78, I’ve always been fond of him,” said Adele Bertei, who went on to form the Bloods, an all-female post-punk band, and release recordings as a solo artist for the Chrysalis and Geffen labels. “He’ll always remain an important artist in my opinion. I played with James in Los Angeles pre-pandemic, and no rancor existed between us at all.”
Guitarist Pat Place of the Bush Tetras writes: “I’m so sad to hear of James’ passing. Working with him in the early days of the Contortions was a roller coaster ride of fun, creativity and insanity. His loss is a great one for the downtown community and the music world.”
Although James Chance recorded prolifically over three decades, releasing 20 albums during his forty–year career, only the ZE and ROIR labels issued more than one album of his music. Other releases appeared on small independent labels such as Invisible (Live Aux Bains Douches, 1980), Enemy (Molotov Cocktail Lounge, 1996), and True Groove (The Flesh Is Weak, 2016). His repertoire encompassed spiky, often acerbically humorous originals such as “Disposable You” and “(I'm Not A) Bedroom Athlete” alongside bracing interpretations of rock, R&B, and Tin Pan Alley standards, these ranging from James Brown’s “King Heroin” to “Why Try To Change Me Now,” the Cy Coleman/Joseph McCarthy, Jr. ballad first recorded in 1951 by Frank Sinatra.
The oldest of four siblings, James Chance is survived by his mother Jean Siegfried; brother and fellow performer David Siegfried and his wife Donna Seaman; sisters Jill Siegfried and Mary (Randy) Koehler. He is also survived by nephews Robert (Kelly) Borden, Michael (Bethany) Borden, Scott (Julie) Rubin, Steven (Sarah) Rubin, and three grandnieces. The family wishes to thank Sylvia Reed and Angel Ramos for their invaluable friendship and selfless assistance during James’ illness.
James was preceded in death by his father and greatest supporter, Donald Siegfried, in 2019; by his romantic and artistic partner Anya Phillips in 1979, and by his longtime life partner Judy Taylor (Bozanich) in 2020.
Funeral services are private, with details of a memorial to be announced at a later date.
