James Francies

James Francies (born 1995) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger. He grew up in Houston but moved to New York to continue his musical studies. Following performances and recordings with various musicians, his first album as leader was released by Blue Note Records in 2018.

Early life Francies was born in Houston in 1995, and grew up in the South Park neighborhood. He played at the church that his parents attended, and formed a jazz trio at the age of 14 that performed for three years. Performances and tours with other leaders, including saxophonist Chris Potter and guitarist Pat Metheny, followed.

Around 2016, he played on Watts's Blue, Vol. 2, Jaimeo Brown's Work Songs, Marcus Strickland's Nihil Novi, and Chance the Rapper's "No Problem". Francies is also part of vibraphonist Stefon Harris's Blackout, and played on that band's Sonic Creed album.

Francies's debut recording as leader came after he signed for Blue Note Records. Francies won the "Rising Star Keyboards" award in DownBeat magazine's 2022 critics' poll.

Questlove has used Francies as a stand-in for his regular keyboardist with The Roots as part of The Tonight Show Band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Francies has sound-to-color synesthesia. For one of his compositions, "Leaps", he reported that "I literally visualized the song's melodic jumps. I took some musical shapes inside my head and thought about what they would look like in the physical world." 2021 Purest Form Blue Note With Burniss Travis II (bass), Jeremy Dutton (drums); guests Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Mike Moreno (guitar), Peyton, Elliott Skinner, and Bilal (vocals)

As sideman