# James Senese > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Senese > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Senese.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Senese > Source revision: 1353445584 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Italian jazz musician (1945–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = James Senese | image = James Senese 006.jpg | caption = Senese in 2010 | birth_name = Gaetano Senese | birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|1|6|df=y}} | birth_place = [Naples](/source/Naples), Italy | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|10|29|1945|1|6|df=y}} | death_place = Naples, Italy | genre = Jazz | occupation = Musician | instrument = Saxophone | years_active = | label = | website = }} '''Gaetano''' "'''James'''" '''Senese''' (6 January 1945 – 29 October 2025) was an Italian saxophonist, composer and singer-songwriter. ==Life and career == Senese was born in [Naples](/source/Naples), the son of Anna Senese and James Smith, an American soldier from [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina) in Italy because of [World War II](/source/World_War_II).{{cite news|last1=Livio Quagliata|title=James Senese, "O' sanghe" di un nero a metà|url=http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2016/05/01/news/james_senese-138129761/|accessdate=10 June 2016|work=[La Repubblica](/source/La_Repubblica)|date=1 May 2016}} Senese's father moved back to the US eighteen months after Gaetano's birth and never returned.{{cite web |url=https://www.cinquantamila.it/storyTellerThread.php?threadId=SENESE%20James |title=Biografia di James Senese |website=Cinquantamila.it |access-date=November 2, 2022}} Senese started playing the [saxophone](/source/saxophone) at 12 years old. He made his professional debut in the 1960s, as a member of the [rhythm and blues](/source/rhythm_and_blues) band {{Interlanguage link multi|The Showmen (Italian band)|it|3=The Showmen|lt=The Showmen}} (later known as Showmen 2), with whom he won the 1968 edition of [Cantagiro](/source/Cantagiro).Enzo Giannelli. "Senese, James". Gino Castaldo (ed.). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. In 1974 Senese co-founded and led the [jazz](/source/jazz-rock)-[progressive rock](/source/progressive_rock) group {{Interlanguage link multi|Napoli Centrale (band)|it|3=Napoli Centrale|lt=Napoli Centrale}}. After the group disbanded in 1978, he started a long collaboration with [Pino Daniele](/source/Pino_Daniele), both in studio and on stage. During his career, he also collaborated with [James Brown](/source/James_Brown), [Ornette Coleman](/source/Ornette_Coleman), [Gil Evans](/source/Gil_Evans), [Art Ensemble of Chicago](/source/Art_Ensemble_of_Chicago) and [Roberto De Simone](/source/Roberto_De_Simone).{{cite news |last1=Aymone |first1=Carmine |title=È morto James Senese, il sax che parlava napoletano, «nero a metà» per eccellenza |url=https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/25_ottobre_29/morto-james-senese-5f5fac32-546d-4cfe-a1ca-211aef788xlk.shtml |access-date=29 October 2025 |work=[Corriere della Sera](/source/Corriere_della_Sera) |date=29 October 2025 |language=it-IT}} His first solo album was released in 1983 by [Polydor Records](/source/Polydor_Records). A documentary film about Senese, ''James'', was directed in 2020 by Andrea Della Monica and premiered at the [77th edition](/source/77th_Venice_International_Film_Festival) of the [Venice Film Festival](/source/Venice_Film_Festival).{{cite news |title=«James» Senese fa ripartire AstraDoc |url=https://napoli.corriere.it/notizie/cultura-e-tempo-libero/21_dicembre_16/james-senese-fa-ripartire-astradoc-cee27176-5e88-11ec-a151-bb76a32885ac.shtml |access-date=11 March 2023 |work=[Corriere della Sera](/source/Corriere_della_Sera) |date=16 December 2021 |language=it-IT}} Senese died of pneumonia at Cardarelli Hospital in Naples, on 29 October 2025, at the age of 80. He had been hospitalised since 24 September. [[Image:James Senese (foto Augusto De Luca).jpg|thumb|right|260px|Jamese Senese in 2017, photographed by [Augusto De Luca](/source/Augusto_De_Luca)]] ==Discography== * ''James Senese'' ([Polydor](/source/Polydor), 1983) * ''Il passo del gigante'' (Tobacco, 1984) * ''Alhambra'' ([EMI Italiana](/source/EMI_Italiana), 1988) * ''Hey James'' (Blue Angel, 1991) * ''Sabato Santo'' (Polosud, 2000) * ''Passpartù'' (ITWHY, 2003) * ''Tribù e passione'' (with [Enzo Gragnaniello](/source/Enzo_Gragnaniello)) (Edel Italia, 2003) * ''E' Fernut' 'o Tiempo'' (Arealive, 2012) * ''O sanghe'' (Alabianca/[Warner](/source/Warner_Music_Group), 2016) * ''Chest nun é a terra mia'' - (Arealive, 2025) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0001779201|label=James Senese}} * {{discogs artist|James Senese}} * {{IMDb name|0784214}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Senese, James}} Category:1945 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Musicians from Naples Category:Italian male saxophonists Category:Italian male singer-songwriters Category:20th-century Italian singer-songwriters Category:21st-century Italian singer-songwriters Category:Italian male jazz musicians Category:Italian people of African-American descent Category:20th-century Italian saxophonists Category:21st-century Italian saxophonists Category:21st-century Italian male singers Category:20th-century Italian male singers Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Campania --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Senese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Senese) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Senese?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.