Artist Info: James Chance

A key figure in No Wave, Chance has been playing a combination of improvisational jazz-like music and punk in the New York music scene since the late 1970s, in bands such as Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, James Chance & the Contortions, James White and the Blacks, The Flaming Demonics, James Chance & the Sardonic Symphonics, and James Chance & Terminal City.

Chance differed from some of his No Wave compatriots by possessing (and demanding from his band) a certain level of musical skill and talent. [read more...]