Jim French (born July 15, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist. He has performed with Diamanda Galás and

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

as well as frequently collaborated with

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

group Three Mile Pilot. Recognized for his virtuoso saxophone playing, French is also known to have created most of the instruments he plays, such as the "Frenchophone," and for crafting custom mouthpieces for prominent artists such as

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Biography

French was born on July 15, 1954, in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. He began crafting custom instruments when he was still a boy and became influenced by the

indigenous music of North America Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...

. In 1970s, French moved to San Diego and became a leading figure in the local avant-garde jazz scene. During that time, he was a member of the San Diego band CETA VI.Varga, George (July 8, 2017)
“Diamanda Galás roars back with two new albums . . ."
Daily Press: Retrieved December 23, 2021. His first recorded appearance was on 1977's '' Sir Henry at Rawlinson End'', a spoken-word, solo comedy record by

Vivian Stanshall Vivian Stanshall (born Victor Anthony Stanshall; 21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper ...

. French released his only album in 1979, titled '' If Looks Could Kill''. It is notable for being the recording debut of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

vocalist Diamanda Galás and the involvement of guitarist

. As a lover of ritual, French appeared on the premiere recording of "Music from the Island of Anaphoria" playing alongside some of the Islands finest musician

During the 90's, French collaborated multiple times with

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Three Mile Pilot appearing on their albums ''

Nà Vuccà Dò Lupù ''Nà Vuccà Dò Lupù'' ( Sicilian for ''Into the mouth of the wolf'') is the debut studio album of Three Mile Pilot, released on November 16, 1992 by Headhunter Records. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Nà Vuccà Dò Lupù'' li ...

'', '' The Chief Assassin to the Sinister'' and '' Another Desert, Another Sea''.

Discography

* 1979: '' If Looks Could Kill'' (

Metalanguage In logic and linguistics, a metalanguage is a language used to describe another language, often called the ''object language''. Expressions in a metalanguage are often distinguished from those in the object language by the use of italics, quot ...

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Jim 1954 births Living people American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Avant-garde jazz saxophonists Jazz musicians from California Musicians from Oklahoma City Musicians from San Diego 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Oklahoma 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians