"A virtuoso of acoustic upright double bass, Whiton slaps, bows, maneuvers, and manipulates his instrument with orchestral precision and street-corner desperation." -Silke Tudor, SF Weekly

James uses the Yamaha SVB-200 Silent Bass and
Gallien Kruger Amplification and Speaker systems exclusively.

If you are looking for free music downloads,
there are mp3 clips at the bottom of this page
and scattered throughout the site.

May 2009  Alameda, CA

I am happy to report that I have been off the road since January, making this the longest I have been home in nearly ten years.  I have played a few times locally with EMT, as a solo performer, and with an array of different bands, and EMT has done a few short stints in New Orleans, LA for Jazzfest, and SoCal, among others. Meanwhile, I've been hanging with Natalie and Bernito in our new apartment in the lovely little island town of Alameda. 

I will be playing quite a few times in the next couple of months with EMT, as a solo performer, and with a few different bands.  Please check out my upcoming shows here.

New Clips posted: I have been asked a few times to post some of my solo material: it is bass loops with sparing vocals and is, according to one reviewer, "beautiful, unexpected and mesmerizing."  I finally posted a couple of clips here and here. 

The Eric McFadden Trio has officially released the new CD Delicate Thing.  Copies are available at our shows for the next couple of months until we can work out a distribution deal, but selected tracks and mp3's are available for download at our website.  Check out the upcoming shows page to see when we are coming near you.  "EMT [has] forever altered expectations of what live bands have the potential to sound like." --Nathan Anderson, The Orion (Chico, CA).

James Whiton and the Downtown Apostles
R.I.P.

Unfortunately, the end has come for the Apostles.  Our extraordinary drummer, Jay Jaskot, has officially moved to New York City.  And congrats to Trumpet Player "Papa John" Fricke, the brand new father of a huge young four-week-old Mr. Brennan Fricke.  Bill Patton, our electric Gee-Tar player, continues to make delicate and beautiful music all around the Puget Sound.    

In case you didn't get to hear the band during their five year tenure, the Downtown Apostles are best described by contradiction; they paint dark and colorful sonic landscapes with sophisticated and neanderthal music. Their sound is heavy and delicate, sultry and refined, hypnotic and jarring. It is soundscapes and thoughtful solos with spoken word vocals.  I've been comparing the band to Tom Waits, Black Sabbath, Miles Davis, early Pink Floyd and Soul Coughing.  See the Downtown Apostles page for more details. 

You can buy any of my available recordings through this website or email me for more info.

If you are in booking or promotion, my biography and press information is here.

You can listen to some mp3 clips from Rhythm & Motion right here:

Billy's Bass	A funky, wah-pedal bowed double bass solo (1.4 megs)
Marvin	Part of an R&B tune starring Mr. John Oliver on vocals (1.5 megs)
Autumn Raine	A Flugelhorn solo by Dave Carter from a delicate jazz ballad (1.5 megs)
Gospel acc. to James	A sighting of the rare and elusive double bass head (946 Kb)
Bus Driver	Bill Jones takes a kick-ass clean trumpet solo over the funky funky band (1.4 megs)
If you want to hear more of my music, there is an Outtakes page, which has full-length mp3's of 13 additional tracks from the studio sessions that resulted in "Rhythm & Motion," my solo album.  It's like your very own virtual album. Check it out!
Buy a Record through this website!