James White

James White

James White is an alias used by James Chance, a veteran of New York’s no wave scene. He recasts his band the Contortions as a parody of a soul group, but one built around disco and funk rhythms rather than R&B. Under the James White name, Chance nods to James Brown in the choice of name, while the Contortions take the name the Blacks, and the music shifts from an experimental avant-jazz approach into a disco, funk and free jazz hybrid. The result is associated with the no wave, jazz punk, no dance, funk and disco scenes.

A separate artist with the same name appears in the record as a Canadian-born molecular biology professor at the University of Ontario, a composer in spare time and a former member of Die Roboter. That figure is distinguished from the New York no wave and punk-funk artist James White, also known as James Chance.