caption website associated_acts years_active label background instrument birth_date genre article_title name
photo by richard thompson http://www.jameswestfall.com the wee trio bionica 2003 -- present bionic records non_vocal_instrumentalist vibraphone keytar 1981 post-bop hard bop fusion indie rock james westfall
 james westfall
james westfall

james westfall is a jazz vibraphonist and keytarist born in houston , texas .
he began on violin at age 6 before moving to piano and then percussion .
he became interested in vibraphone due in part to his grandfather .
-lrb- who learned the instrument during the great depression . -rrb-
he later moved to new orleans where he attended the university of new orleans .
in new orleans he studied under terence blanchard , ed petersen , steve masakowski and brian seeger .
later he moved to los angeles , california where he was part of the thelonious monk institute of jazz .
at present he lives in new orleans .
westfall heads the the wee trio and bionica and heads the record label bionic records .
