Decades long experience with a multitude of notable artists -- from his early days as accompanist to iconic vocalists Abbey Lincoln and Cassandra Wilson, on to his years as a member of M-Base Collective innovator Steve Coleman’s group and music director for the late great Kevin Mahogany, up to his current tenure with saxophonist Joe Lovano’s critically acclaimed nonet and Grammy nominated Us Five band -- has proven pianist/composer/arranger James Weidman to be one of the most versatile artists in music today and prepared him well for his steady emergence as an important bandleader in his own right. Weidman’s versatility is evidenced in the wide ranging music of the various ensembles that he currently leads: The Aperturistic Trio (with bassist Harvey S and drummer Steve Williams) which explores his own cutting edge original compositions; The Rhythm Keepers (with Marvin Horne on guitar and Harvey S on bass), a group in the tradition of Nat King Cole’s classic trio that swings jazz standards out of the Great American Songbook; and Spiritual Impressions, an ensemble including singer Ruth Naomi Floyd that features him doubling on piano and organ performing his own stirring arrangements of gospel music out of the Black church. He also concurrently coleads the James Weidman-Steve Williams Quartet performing the Music of Clifford Jordan. James Weidman was born in Youngstown, Ohio, where he began playing piano at the age of seven. He was first schooled in the elements of jazz by his father, saxophonist James Weidman, Sr., and by the time he was fourteen he was playing organ in his father’s band. He says, "I've never forgotten my father's advice from the first time I ever played with him: 'Keep the time, stay out of the way, and tell a story.'" In later years, while still studying at Youngstown State University (from which he graduated cum laude in 1976 with a degree in classical piano and music education) he became a first call sideman in around the Youngstown area. It was with this background that aided him in the development of his the skilled touch as an adept soloist as well as a superior accompaniment that Weidman made his inevitable move to New York City in 1978, where he first worked around town as a sideman with various veterans and up-and-comers, including, Woody Herman, Gloria Lynne, Harold Ousley, Cecil Payne, Max Roach, Dakota Staton, and Bobby Watson, By the late eighties he came into the orbit of conceptualist Steve Coleman and the M Base Collective. He recalls, "Steve's compositions forced you to think differently; playing his very demanding rhythms and harmonies was really challenging. It gave me a freer outlook on music." In the early nineties he began coleading with longtime Randy Weston saxophonist TK Blue the band Taja, recording their Live At Birdland album in 1992. Weidman’s early recordings with Coleman, along with M Base disciples Robin Eubanks, Greg Osby, Lonnie Plaxico and Cassandra Wilson, as well as other forward thinking players like Marty Ehrlich and Jay Hoggard, signaled the development of his personal individualistic approach to music that has been continuously evidenced on his own recordings of predominantly original compositions, beginning with his 1997 debut as a leader, People Music (a trio outing featuring bassist Belden Bullock and drummer Marvin Smitty Smith) and continuing with succeeding dates All About Time (with Hoggard, bassist Ed Howard, drummer Marcus Baylor and vocalist Charene Dawn), the superbly innovative Three Worlds (with trombonist Ray Anderson, saxophonist/clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, bassist Brad Jones and drummer Francisco Mela) and the deeply rooted Spiritual Impressions. These days Weidman continues to make a name for himself leading his various groups and as a sideman with Lovano, while also sharing the wealth of knowledge he has gained through his many years of performing a wide range of music on stages all over the world, teaching at William Paterson College, where he has been a member of the faculty since ####. Speaking with the voice of experience he instructs his students there “The more genres you're comfortable with, the deeper your understanding of music and the better your technique, the better your communication.” Recalling the words he first heard from his father when just starting out, he makes sure that the know, “You're really telling a story to your audience."