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James Westfall
James Westfall is a multi-genre instrumentalist, composer, and arranger living and working in Nashville. He performs most regularly on keyboards, piano and mallet percussion.
Though Westfall now performs, records, and composes in contemporary commercial music styles, his background is in jazz – where he spent fourteen years living and working in the lush music scene in New Orleans. While living in New Orleans he attended The University of New Orleans where he was able to perform and be mentored under Harold Battiste, Ellis Marsalis, and Steve Masakowski.
One of James’ first honors in the jazz world was when he was invited to participate in the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program. In 2003 James was accepted as the first vibraphonist in the history of The Thelonious Monk Institute. While attending the Monk Institute he was able to perform at venues like Tokyo Jazz Festival, Blue Note, and Blues Alley with artists such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Garrett, and Clark Terry.
In 2007 Westfall formed ‘The Wee Trio’ while living in New York. This collaborative band continues to perform across the country at high caliber venues like The Green Mill, Jazz at the Bistro, and Yoshi’s as well as major festivals including The New Orleans & Heritage Jazz Festival, Discover Jazz Festival, and Rochester Jazz Festival, and have taken up artist residency at several Universities. The Boston Globe declared their first album, Capitol Diner Vol. 1, to be a “winning debut.” Westfall also released Independent, his own record around this time – Jazztimes quoted it as being “uplifting and distinctive.” Around this time he was also was able to gain sideman experience performing with artists such as Nicholas Payton, Terri Lyne Carrington, John Ellis, and Gretchen Parlato.
Westfall prides himself on continuing the tradition of breaking tradition. Whether he is performing with The Wee Trio or his solo projects, “Westfall continues to incorporate elements of rock and hip-hop.” – Jazztimes. As well as a performer, Westfall is also a music educator. From 2011-2014 he was employed as an adjunct professor at The University of Southern Mississippi teaching piano and vibraphone. He was also employed by the Thelonious Monk Institute to teach the “Thelonious Monk Combo” working with high school students at NOCCA.
Today Westfall resides in Nashville, TN working as a keyboardist and mallet percussionist in several genres of music. Most recently he has performed with BJ Thomas, Steelism, and Pat Coil.
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The Wee Trio: Wee +3
by Dan Bilawsky
The Wee Trio delivered quite a bit of variety over the course of its first four albums. The first two--Capitol Diner, Vol. I (Bionic Records, 2008) and Capitol Diner, Vol. II: Animal Style (Bionic Records, 2010)--established the musical ground and syntax that are part and parcel of this three-way partnership; Ashes To Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective (Bionic Record, 2012) demonstrated much of what can be done to mutate and honor David Bowie's music, almost foretelling the growth of Bowie-inflected ...
read moreThe Wee Trio: Live at the Bistro
by Luigi Sforza
La bella copertina dell'ultimo CD del Wee Trio--in puro stile fumettistico pop art, alla Roy Lichtenstein, comprensivo di onomatopee--rappresenta i tre musicisti nell'atto di suonare. La musica poi è un'esperienza dinamica sfaccettata, in sintonia con le possibili declinazioni di una società in continuo movimento. L'accostamento tra pop art e Live at the Bistro -disco che fotografa la performance del gruppo nell'omonimo locale di St. Louis ad un paio d'anni di distanza da Ashes to Ashes: a David Bowie ...
read moreThe Wee Trio: Ashes To Ashes - A David Bowie Intraspective
by Glenn Astarita
Vibraphonist James Westfall participated with several New Orleans-based musicians to cover the music of pop icon David Bowie and took the concept further by using this premise for The Wee Trio's third album. The band projects youthful vigor along the lines of The Bad Plus and Medeski, Martin & Wood; firmly rooted in the jazz vernacular, the trio adheres to Bowie's famous melodies and song forms, all enacted with jazzy variations and plentiful doses of improvisation. 1984" is ...
read moreThe Wee Trio: Capitol Diner Vol. 2: Animal Style
by Mark F. Turner
Based loosely in New York, The Wee Trio's origins form a cross-section of the United States, with drummer Jared Schonig from Los Angeles, vibraphonist James Westfall living in New Orleans and bassist Dan Loomis hailing from St. Louis. Notwithstanding that there isn't an abundance of vibraphone-centered recordings such as Joe Locke's For the Love of You (E1 Music, 2010) and Stefon Harris' Urbanus (Concord Music Group, 2009), The Wee Trio holds high the mallet-based banner in good form, showing itself ...
read moreThe Wee Trio: Capitol Diner Vol. 1
by Troy Collins
Jazz has a long history of up and coming musicians attempting to incorporate the popular music of their time into the standard repertoire. Some acts have made such ideology their calling card. For example, both the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Sex Mob regularly include contemporary pop songs in their set lists. As such, the cover of Nirvana's early underground hit About a Girl" (complete with hyper speed Rhapsody in Blue" interjections) that opens the Wee Trio's debut album Capitol ...
read moreThe Wee Trio: Capitol Diner Vol. 1
by J Hunter
"Lightning in a bottle" is an excellent metaphor for The Wee Trio's Capitol Diner Vol. 1, given how the music crackles like high-tension wires in a rainstorm. But it's the level of electricity that is the surprise. On its face, TWT's instrumental makeup--vibes with a rhythm section--doesn't seem to lend itself to any kind of aggressive musical behavior. That's an assumption and, like most assumptions, it's dead wrong.
James Westfall's disquieting opening to Kurt Cobain's About a Girl" is the ...
read moreJames Westfall: Independent
by Mark F. Turner
Given the vast amount of new releases these days, much of recorded jazz turns out formulaic. While following in the footsteps of forerunners and standards of the past, many musicians are hard pressed to create their own identities. But younger players like vibraphonist James Westfall exhibit potential in conveying their own ideas. An active musician in New York, Westfall (who's in his twenties) has had the opportunity of studying and playing with a number of iconic jazz ...
read more"Westfall's style is distinct and uplifting...incorporating elements of rock and hip-hop". —Forest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes
"Independent proves that this band of musical mavericks has indeed arrived and is here to stay". —Geraldine Wyckoff Offbeat
"His composition chops appear to float atop a deep well, and we can look forward to his next journey." —Andrea Canter The Jazz Police