Contort Yourself

James Chance, no wave provocateur, left us on June 18.

“I GOT A big kick out of provoking people,” reflected James Chance. A charismatic, sax-toting, conservatory-schooled jazz aggressor, he pioneered the deconstructed punk ethos of NY’s no wave movement like a quiff-topped combination of Alan Vega, Albert Ayler and James Brown. Layering screaming vocals and free jazz sax over the Contortions’ taut, nervy funk, Chance attacked cultural divides by injecting black music styles into post-punk. On a mission to melt New York’s notorious hauteur, he also found notoriety by physically accosting audiences. Born James Siegfried in Milwaukee on April 20, 1953, he grew up in Wisconsin and learned piano rudiments at Catholic school before attending the state’s Conservatory of Music. Extra-curricular activities included joining proto-punk band Death and discovering jazz after hearing John Coltrane. Moving to New York in late 1975,…

You're reading a preview of

MOJO (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.