James Annesley (born 3rd April 1980 in Durban, South Africa)

is a saxophonist and electronic producer currently based in Melbourne, Australia, though he spent most of his formative years is the smaller Australian city of Adelaide. He currently has five albums to his name.

He has studied with the world renowned George Garzone as well as Australian saxophone legends Jamie Oehlers and Julien Wilson.

James Annesley has developed a distinctive style of saxophone playing, most obviously influenced by Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Jan Gabarek, though with an earthiness and openness of approach which is uniquely Australian. Annesley plays tenor and soprano saxophones, but tends to favour the soprano, on which he has a more distinctive voice. He also dabbles with the flute, bass clarinet and EWI.

Virtual Proximity has been one of Annesley's main projects since 2004. He combines jazz saxophone with his own electronic production, often using hip hop style beats, field recordings and unusual samples. The music draws influence from artists such as DJ Krush, Amon Tobin, Miles Davis and Nils Petter Molvaer, though is distinctly original, with an earthiness that is in contrast to the urban feel of most electronic music. Virtual proximity the album was released in April 2009, with Virtual Proximity 2 following in July 2011. A live audio/visual show was developed in 2010, in collaboration with electronic musician Tristan Courtney and Veejay Robert Jarvis.

Annesley’s more Jazz oriented project, The James Annesley Quartet, features Hugh Harvey (Drums), Tom Lee (Bass) and Hugh Stuckey (Guitar). The group has been together since 2007 and play a unique style of contemporary Jazz which draws influence from folk music and rock. They have performed all over Australia, and in New Zealand. They have released three albums so far: Idle Hands do the Devils Work (2009), Vicious Cycle (2010) and Live (2011).

Annesley has recently formed a hiphop duo with rapper Mad Scholar, called Deep Crossing. The pair will release their debut EP ‘Streets Move Gently’ in mid 2012.

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