Born in York, England, James was educated at Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire Leeds College of Music studying flute and guitar (Gordon Crosskey), and Trinity College of Music, London, where he studied guitar and composition with Hector Quine and David Newbold respectively.
After leaving the band, he later went on to form Kymaera, a Latin-style contemporary jazz band. After obtaining his LTCL he joined the teaching staff at Trinity in 1977 and became guitar tutor at the Purcell School of Music in 1984. This involved both writing and arranging music for the shows as well as appearing in them.
In 1987 James formed his own publishing company, Designer Music Limited., to develop the compositional side of his work.
Commissions have included a fifteen part history of bullfighting released in Spain by Planeta/Agostini in Autumn 1994, a thirteen part series on Serial Killers produced by Mainline Television in Autumn 1996 for SKY television, and a series of commissioned arrangements which led to the creation of the band Kymaera in 1998. Kymaera made its debut at Ronnie Scott"s Jazz Club on 21 June 1998 and successfully launched both albums before going on to make a third album "Careless Whispers" (Microwave Communications Incorporated) released in September 1998.
‘Into The Rainbow’ was released in June 2001 and launched at Ronnie Scotts with Ewing, with whom he and Hill toured the United Kingdom that same year. In July and August 2001 Kymaera made an album for Union Square entitled ‘California Dreamin’ which was released the following year.
In Summer 2004 Kymaera recorded another album for Union Square some tracks of which were released in Spring 2006 on ‘Smooth Jazz’ including two with vocals from guest singer Lynieve Austin - Streetlife and Rainy Night In Georgia.
The original ‘Into The Rainbow’ has now been combined with unreleased tracks for Union Square, was re-mastered, and released in January 2007 by Sheridan Square Records in the United States of America. James specialises in a fusion of Spanish classical and flamenco for solo guitar which is both unique and yet firmly centred in those traditional values, this led to the creation of the band Almaraya in 2006. Based around the rhythm section of Kymaera and with the addition of Lynieve Austin on vocals the band launched the Croydon Jazz Festival in April of that year.
