James Stewart was born in Trenton NJ on February 24th 1957

He started playing the violin at age 9 and switched to clarinet at age 12. At age 15 he began playing the alto saxophone, and tenor at 16… he was a senior in high school when he started on flute. The late Thomas Grice was his high school teacher and prepared him for a life in music… James earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education at New Jersey City University in 1980…

James has performed with;

The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Frank Foster’s big band,The Lionel Hampton big band, Oliver Lake big band, Danny Mixon, Abdullah Ibrahim, The Temptations, The Dells, Gloria Gaynor, David Murray, Macy Gray, Valerie Simpson, Instant Funk,and the Sun Ra Arkestra…

James has recorded with Oliver Lake, Danny Mixon , Frank Foster, and the Sun Ra Arkestra…

James plays clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano,alto,tenor, baritone saxophones, piccolo, flute, alto flute..