Background
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Jim is the son of a doctor and a historian/political activist.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Jim is the son of a doctor and a historian/political activist.
His interest in drumming came from his grandmother, who was also an academic, played drums in Greenwich Village in the 1940s and studied with the legendary jazz drummer Cozy Cole. Living in Jamaica and the West Indies as a boy, he studied classical guitar at the Foster Davis School of Music.
He returned to North America in the 1960s, studying briefly at Alfred State University in upper New York State, then Sir George Williams University in Montreal. He began his career in the arts in 1967. During the 1980s and 1990s, Jim worked with the likes of Paul Schaffer, Carole Pope, Domenic Troiano, Jimmy Smith, Oliver Lake, Salome Bey, Oliver Schroer, and Tiger Okoshi.
In addition to performing at New York"s infamous Knitting Factory, a recent concert produced by Thrum Records was aired on Bravo.
-"Jazz for me represents an "edge" to an activity, a leading edge in its approach to the current thought, with a definite “off the cuff “ in the execution. Thrumming is an approach to the drum machine AND the trap (contraption) set of drums, that calls for “playing” the machine in real time, repeating mistakes and all, while sitting and playing the kit."
Mr.
Norman"s instrument is composed of approximately 35 drums, fifteen cymbals, gongs, rain-sticks, chimes, and over 50 other percussion sounds, some acoustic and some electronic. lieutenant has been referred to as a monstrous kit.
More recently, Mr. Norman has used his "celebrity" status to become involved in putting together an investment group that he personally promised enormous returns on their money for investing in supposedly freeing his money that was being illegally held via patriot act restrictions.
People have invested literally millions in his scheme and as a result of his investment fraud he has recently been indicted by the state of South Carolina. lieutenant is currently assumed that Mr. Norman has fled to somewhere in the Caribbean from Canada to avoid extradition with respect to these charges.
"All 18 compositions were recorded with no overdubbing and 13 of them in single takes.
That"s quite remarkable considering their complexity. And, Time Changes, Times Change is quite a remarkable album."
"The album (Time Changes, Times Change) seems like an extension of Miles Davis" early electric works, early Weather Report and "70s Euro-fusion from January Akkerman and Joachim Kuhn.
There are powerful, driving qualities throughout."
Time Changes, Times Change: Dark Light Music Limited. (1996)
Improv: Thrum Records (1996)
Beyond the Beginning - Visitor In Time
Jim Norman: Skywalker Vision Quest Digital Video Disc
Jim Norman: Grafite live Digital Video Disc
Jim Norman Improv: XI Rhuthmos Digital Video Disc
Jim Norman: Grafite Live.
