James Francies
Francies atBlue Note Jazz Club, New York City, May 2024
Background information
Born	1995 (age 29–30) Houston, Texas, US
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger
Instrument(s)	Piano, keyboards
Labels	Blue Note
Website	jamesfranciesmusic.com

James Francies (born 1995) is an Americanjazz pianist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger. He grew up inHouston but moved to New York to continue his musical studies. Following performances and recordings with various musicians, his first album as leader was released byBlue Note Records in 2018.

Francies was born inHouston in 1995,^[1] and grew up in theSouth Park neighborhood.^[2][3] He began having piano lessons at the age of five, and learning about jazz at junior high school.^[1] He went on to attend theHigh School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.^[2] He played at the church that his parents attended, and formed a jazz trio at the age of 14 that performed for three years.^[2]

At high school, Francies was awarded a series of jazz scholarships to aid his musical development.^[1] These helped him obtain a full scholarship to study at theNew School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.^[1]

While a student in New York, Francies became a regular in drummerJeff "Tain" Watts's band.^[1] He played piano on one track for Watts's albumBlue, Vol. 1 around 2015.^[4] Performances and tours with other leaders, including saxophonistChris Potter and guitaristPat Metheny, followed.^[1] Francies roomed with pianistAaron Parks for three years from 2015.^[5]

Around 2016, he played on Watts'sBlue, Vol. 2,^[6] Jaimeo Brown'sWork Songs,^[7]Marcus Strickland'sNihil Novi,^[8] andChance the Rapper's "No Problem".^[2][3] Francies is also part of vibraphonistStefon Harris's Blackout, and played on that band'sSonic Creed album.^[9]

Francies's debut recording as leader came after he signed forBlue Note Records.^[2] The albumFlight was released in 2018.^[1] All but one of the eleven tracks were written or co-written by Francies; among the other musicians who appeared on the album were bassist Burniss Travis II and drummer Jeremy Dutton, from Francies's band Kinetic.^[2] In the same year, Francies was part of vocalistJosé James's band that played at theMonterey Jazz Festival.^[10] Francies won the "Rising Star Keyboards" award inDownBeat magazine's 2022 critics' poll.^[11]

Questlove has used Francies as a stand-in for his regular keyboardist withThe Roots as part ofThe Tonight Show Band onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[1]

A reviewer ofFlight commented on Francies's "explosive keyboard style, which makes up for what it lacks in thematic development with dazzling fast runs, nuanced textures and unpredictable turns".^[12]

Francies has sound-to-colorsynesthesia.^[13] For one of his compositions, "Leaps", he reported that "I literally visualized the song's melodic jumps. I took some musical shapes inside my head and thought about what they would look like in the physical world."^[13]

• 1995 births
• 21st-century American pianists
• American jazz pianists
• American male jazz pianists
• High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alumni
• Living people
• American male jazz composers
• Musicians from Houston
• The New School alumni
• 21st-century American jazz composers
• Jazz musicians from New York (state)
• 21st-century American male composers

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