Bruce James and Bella Black joined forces in Austin, Texas in 2011 and have been spreading their special blues and soul since. Their music springs from the tradition of the Southern Soul from Texas, New Orleans and Memphis. The foundation of James & Black is the voices and stories in their songs.



Since relocating to Europe in the summer of 2012, James & Black have toured throughout Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain and France, playing close to 150 shows per year and covering over 300,000 km in the process.



They have supported Gregory Porter and Fatoumata Diawara in Leiden at Summer Jazz, Candy Dulfer in Amsterdam at Vondel Park, performed at the Porretta Soul Festival on two occasions in Porreta Terme, Italy alongside artists such as Bobby Rush and Lattimore, performed at the Enclave de Aguas in Soria, Spain alongside Lee Fields and Nikki Hill, performed at The Barcelona International Jazz Festival and have supported New Yorkers, The Slackers, throughout Germany and Austria. In April this year they performed at the Baltic Soul Weekender with Sister Sledge and Lenny Williams near Hamburg, Germany as well as a tribute to Allen Toussaint at the Porretta Soul Festival.