James starting playing music when he was 4 years old. He began his formal studies when his mother asked him if he wanted to learn how to play. He replied, "No!" His mother promptly told him he would start lessons the following week with his Godfather, Ervin Sapp!
For the next 10 years he took private lessons in piano and theory which set the foundation for what would eventually become a life-long love of music and all things theatrical. After his Godfather died from AIDS in early 1981 James began to immerse himself in literature and music. He began writing a musical that would eventually change his life forever.
In the fall of 1981 he enrolled at Riverside Junior College where he spent the next couple of years involved in theatre and music courses along with his undergraduate work. However, he wasn't focused on academics and his grades reflected as much. He decided to leave Riverside and venture to Los Angeles where he enrolled at California State University Dominguez Hills. There he received his BA in Theatre. This is where he also met his future wife of 20 years, Delayna Goins. Later he attended UCLA where he received his Teaching Credential and a Certificate in Film Scoring from the Program on Film Scoring at UCLA Extension.
James went on to teach and recently retired after 24 years of working with youth-at risk both in the Los Angeles Unified School District and later transferring to the Compton Unified School District. During that time he managed to start a successful internet business with his wife, raise three beautiful children, produce and direct over 20 plays and musicals, write a screenplay, a teleplay, four musicals, a book and several one acts and Anthologies. He is a member of BMI, The Recording Academy(Grammy's), The Dramatist Guild, The American Composers Forum, The Academy of New Musical Theatre, The Playwrights Center and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. James is currently the Executive Director of the Laity Institute of the Arts a Private Arts Foundation located in Palmdale, CA.
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