James Katz

James Katz Bio

James Katz; founder, front man, and songwriter of NYC's legendary "Choosy Mothers", released his long awaited debut solo album “glow” in 2005. “glow” receives continuous acclaim from New York’s underground music scene and from top music websites around the world.

James recruited some of NYC's best musicians to help craft the next incarnation of his signature sound. “glow” represented a musical shift for James from the improv based funky style that defined the Choosy Mothers sound to the more edgy, moody and passionate emotions that drives his new sound.

In the mid 90's there was a burgeoning 'original and unsigned' music scene in NYC.   One of the few bands to actually make a living at it was "Choosy Mothers".

With an infectious amalgamation of styles subtly blended through song craft and improvisation, "The Mothers" packed houses at national level venues like Wetlands, New Music Cafe, and Tramps while holding down a 3 set weekly residency at Greenwich Village’s legendary Mondo Cane. The band averaged over 2 gigs per week in Manhattan alone during its 6-year tour of duty.

“Choosy Mothers was a product of the era, or at least the product of what I listened to growing up. My older sibling pumped all this Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, old school R&B, and The Police. All this funky music pumped into this little white boy...my dad is an amazing jazz pianist, so I got a lot of that at home too...that definitely had a lot to do with my writing style during the Mothers years, and is still influential on my sound today...” says Katz.

Sharing the stage with artists like Dave Matthew's Band, Third Eye Blind, Jeff Buckley, and the Spin Doctors enabled Choosy Mothers to sell over 15,000 albums between sets with no marketing or label support.

“It's clearly time to move on when you’re not growing anymore. So what I wanted to do was record the beginnings of the stuff I had been writing that didn't quite make sense in the context of the Mothers...more acoustic stuff at first and some heavier rock sounds that I’d been coming back to in my mind,” says Katz.

While focusing much of his efforts on studio production, writing, producing and engineering albums for other artists, Katz also began working on his own new material.

“Glow was supposed to be just a 3 song demo. [laughs] but then I started working on it...We started getting a really thick and juicy sound in rehearsals, so things just started flowing from there... If I had had such a clear plan of what I was going to do in the studio, and I forced myself strictly to implement it, I wouldn’t have a record,” says Katz.

The result is a fresh new sound that covers a lot of ground and yet remains cohesive and unmistakably James Katz.

On the audio production side, James has recently worked as a producer, audio mixer, sound designer and music consultant for many artists and entities including PBS, Zoomari Films, Warner Brothers, and 'Erasure'. Katz acted as music consultant, guitar double and 'band coach' on the set of the film 'August Rush' starring Johnathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams and Kerri Russel.

James will be releasing his second album 'into the bright white light' (recorded live at Arlene's Grocery, NYC) in early 2008. 'into the bright white light' will feature 11 smoldering tracks that crackle with the energy that can only be found in a great live performance.

“My songs can be pretty dark at times, everyone has a dark side... I think for some people my songs can put a face on that dark side and paint it in a way that it’s not so horrible. There’s no such thing as hopelessness and even though things are seemingly insurmountable there’s always going to be a way to move forward.... When people listen to my music, I don’t want them to hear just the individuals playing instruments, I want them to hear the songs and the soundscapes as a whole. I want to choke you up, make you feel.”

Facts:

- James has sold over 15,000 albums with no marketing or label support
- 'glow' has produced 4 #1 songs on Broadjam.com
- ‘glow’ has received 20 chart awards and more than 100 "Reviewer's Picks" awards from Garageband.com
- All 6 songs submitted have made it to the top 20 on GarageBand.com charts (4 in the top 10 including 'she's having a bender' which spent 5 months at #1.
- Songs from 'glow' are featured in countless podcasts around the world.

Quotes:

" If I was stuck on a desert island . . . and could have only one mixed tape, 4 or 5 songs would have to be from 'glow' . . ."
- Matt Johnson, drummer (John Mayer, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright)

" James Katz is a truly great songwriter/musician. He is equally adept at crafting meaningful, thought provoking lyrics ... as sublime and memorable melodies.   Having been a fan for a while, I've heard his music evolve and flourish here in NYC and "glow" is James' crowning achievement. This is the CD to enlighten countless as to what many all read