The Contortions Saxophonist, James Chance Died at Age 71

American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer, A key figure in No Wave, James Chance died at the age of 71.

On Tuesday (June 18), News of Chance’s passing was confirmed by his brother, David Siegfried, and shared through the late punk-funk artist’s Facebook page.

“His death was announced by his brother David Siegfried of Chicago, who did not specify a cause of death but noted that the musician’s health had been in decline for several years,” the lengthy post reads. “His final live performance is believed to have taken place in March 2019 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.”

He was born and raised in Milwaukee and Brookfield, Wisconsin, Chance attended Michigan State University, and then the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.

A key figure in no wave, Chance played a variety of spontaneous jazz-like music and punk in the New York music scene from the late 1970s on, in such bands as Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, James Chance and the Contortions and many more.

The Contortions Saxophonist, James Chance Died at Age 71