what jim does

Saxophonist Jim Spake lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee, where he has made his living in music since his teens. After attending Berklee College of Music, where he studied with David Liebman, Bill Pierce, and Steve Grossman, Jim returned to Memphis and resumed gigging with local jazz & R&B groups. While still in his early twenties, he toured with Levon Helm, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Brenda Lee and in the 1980s became more active in Memphis's recording studios - everything from jingles to album sessions. Over the years he's backed artists such as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, The Four Tops, Mose Allison, Chuck Berry, Tony Joe White, Ben E. King, and Johnny Mathis.
Memphis's rich musical history continues to draw producers and artists here to record - perhaps to capture some of the "magic." In recent decades, Jim's saxophone work is an integral part of the mix. Sessions with Al Green, John Hiatt, Toots Hibbert, Lucero, Solomon Burke, Cat Power, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Rod Stewart, Alex Chilton, and Ike Turner occasionally lead him back out on the road.
From '93 to '01, the Sweet Soul Music International Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy was an annual opportunity for Spake to work with such Soul/R&B icons as Lavern Baker, Otis Clay, Ann Peebles, Dan Penn, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Mavis Staples, Solomon Burke, and Irma Thomas. The 90's also found Jim touring with Bruce Willis's Accelerators. in the 2010s, he was out a lot with Lucero.
He was selected by the Memphis chapter NARAS for the Premier Woodwind Player Award eight times between 1987 and 2001, and in 2002 was inducted into its Hall of Fame.
You might see him in two episodes of HBO's Treme, with The Iguanas and Lucero. Jim also appears in the documentaries Soul Comes Home and Take Me to the River
Jim continues to stay busy w/Lucky 7 Brass Band, Joe Restivo 4, The Mighty Souls, and just about anyone who's got his number. Book him at jimspake@gmail.com

w/Joe Cabral & The Iguanas

w/Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd