Gaetano "James" Senese (born 6 January 1945) is an Italian saxophonist, composer, and singer-songwriter.
Senese was born in Naples, the son of Anna Senese and James Smith, an American soldier from North Carolina in Italy because of World War II.[1][2] Senese's father moved back to the US eighteen months after Gaetano's birth and never returned.[3]Senese started playing the saxophone at 12 years old.[1] He made his professional debut in the 1960s, as a member of the rhythm and blues band The Showmen (later known as Showmen 2), with whom he won the 1968 edition of Cantagiro.[1][2]
In 1974 Senese co-founded and led the critically acclaimed jazz-rock group Napoli Centrale. After the group disbanded in 1978, he started a long collaboration with Pino Daniele, both in studio and on stage. His first solo album was released in 1983 by Polydor Records.[1][2]
A documentary film about Senese, James, was directed in 2020 by Andrea Della Monica and premiered at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival.[4]
