James Chance, key figure in New York’s no wave music scene, dies aged 71

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    13 days ago

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    James Chance, the singer-saxophonist whose squalling blend of funk, jazz and post-punk found a cult following in mid-1970s New York onwards, has died aged 71.

    Born James Siegfried in 1953 and raised in Wisconsin, Chance trained at a music school and was inspired by rock’n’roll as well as jazz.

    “My whole attitude, my own personal style and everything was more out of rock’n roll.” He formed an instrumental quartet called Flaming Youth and – after a meeting with singer and poet Lydia Lunch at punk scene venue CBGB – the band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, whose tiny handful of songs, rarely passing the two-minute mark, had an outsized influence.

    Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Chance’s other band Contortions made up half the acts on No New York, a compilation produced by Brian Eno that is seen as the key document of the scene.

    Chance was a confrontational figure, goading audiences with violence and infamously attacking rock critic Robert Christgau during one gig.

    Releases became much more sporadic after James White’s Flaming Demonics in 1983, but Chance re-formed the original Contortions lineup for live dates in 2001 and occasionally since, and continued to tour with other backing musicians until 2019.


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