Benjaman James’ funk, jazz, hip hop and pop ‘convergence’: Local Spins on WYCE

Relocating to Grand Rapids from Traverse City, James’ band plays Founders on Saturday and he previewed new tunes on the radio show, which also debuted tracks by several Michigan artists.

 

Spending hours on the road every week traveling to Grand Rapids from Traverse City to meet up with bandmates and rehearse with other musicians finally got the better of Benjaman James.

So the leader of the popular northern Michigan funk and horn-driven band recently relocated to Grand Rapids.

“It’s kind of been a six-month to a year transition. I’m proud to be here and it’s been fun so far,” he said. “There’s so much here right here in West Michigan. I can name five huge bands from West Michigan that are touring the Midwest and doing incredible stuff. … And it’s not small-time stuff. They’re really incredible groups and really incredible musicians.”

The trombonist, guitarist and singer is getting set to stake his claim to that same sort of stature after re-branding his musical project a couple of years ago from Old Mission Collective to Benjaman James.

He views the revamped band as “the convergence” of three “separate musical lives” because he often plays trombone in other jazz and funk bands, listens to hip hop, and performs pop tunes on acoustic guitar.

And with the band’s uber-proficient members – Dutcher Snedeker on keyboards, Shone Williams on bass, Shaq Anthony on drums, Caleb Elzinga on saxophone, Timothy Blackmon Jr. on trumpet, plus special guests – James insisted “we can do exactly what we’re looking for.”

They can even do that as a trio, as demonstrated during this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE when James, Snedeker and Williams performed two pared-down renditions of new songs. Watch the video of their performance of “Guest House” here and listen to the full radio show podcast below.

VIDEO: Benjaman James, “Guest House”

The band’s last big show for a few months will take place at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids ($5 cover), with Kalamazoo’s Last Gasp Collective also on the bill. Admission is $5.

After that, James said, band members will spend the fall working on collaborative projects with other musicians and eventually head into the studio to work on a new recording.

This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE – which showcases local and regional music at 11 a.m. Fridays on 88.1 FM WYCE – was chock full of on-air debuts of new songs by Michigan artists, including tracks by Singing Lungs, Summer Like the Season, Jordan Hamilton (this week’s musician’s pick by James), Patrick Misner, Super Future, Tiger and Frame and Billy King, as well as music from Pink Sky and Ralston Bowles. Listen to the podcast here.

PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (8/24/18)

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