K&K's Artist of the Month: James Walker
August 2003
James
Walker is a percussionist who specializes in marimba, vibraphone, mallet
synthesizer, and steel pan, currently residing in southwestern Connecticut.
Also active as an educator, he has taught at Ithaca College and Northern
Illinois University, and his writings have been published in Jazz Player
Magazine (the "Expressive Jazz Techniques" column) and Percussive Notes,
the official magazine of the Percussive Arts Society.
His
web site, www.malletjazz.com,
features a number of online lessons addressing jazz improvisation, mallet
instrument technique, and electronic percussion. He has presented clinics
at colleges and universities around the U.S., including the Hartt School,
Western Connecticut State University, and Kent State University.
James currently leads his own jazz group, and is composing material for a new CD. His debut CD, Rhyme Or Reason, featuring Fareed Haque and Liam Teague, has received radio airplay across the U.S. and around the world. Currently, in addition to his schedule of teaching and performances, he also hosts the new mallet percussion forum at http://www.tigerbill.com.
James uses the K&K vibraphone system and says, "I've been using the K&K vibraphone pickups since 1995, and they've been rock solid and consistent from day one. The pickups have allowed me to completely transform my sound, turning my vibraphone into an electric instrument and allowing me to make extensive use of effects processing like chorus, delay, and pitch shifting. While I have (from time to time) used the picukps purely to amplify the acoustic sound of the instrument, it's in this electronic application where the technology really shines."