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Jim Feldman was born in Chicago in 1951. His musical journey began with a preschool fascination of classical music and he started playing the accordian in 2nd grade. He joined the school band on bass drum in third grade and began the clarinet in 4th grade. He attended the musically acclaimed Notre Dame High School in Niles, Illinois, and played in the jazz band with many soon to be famous students including Jim Pankow (Chicago), Jim McNeely (Grammy nominated jazz pianist), Dan DeLorenzo and others.
Jim attended the University of Illinois and played baritone sax in the jazz band that won many collegiate competitions. Jim was selected to the Chicagoland Jazz Festival all star band in 1973. In addition to the jazz band (which included Dee Dee Bridgewater as a vocalist, Ron Dewar on tenor sax, Jim McNeely on piano and 18 other similarly talented individuals), Jim was a jobbing musician and played many one night gigs including performing in Sonny & Cher's band at Chicago Stadium. He formed his own 9 piece horn band (BBC) playing the local clubs in Champaign/Urbana, initially playing tenor sax and flute, and ultimately electric bass.
After completing his degree in creative writing (prose fiction), Jim joined a touring club band (Prentice Minner & Company) as a woodwind player, then another touring act (The Wright Brothers) as a bass player. Both bands played several weeks at a time in the nicest lounge/show rooms in the city and Jim toured the US and Canada for 18 months.
In 1975 Jim settled in Minneapolis and played bass, tenor sax and flute with Mellow Brew/Full House, a club band playing the local hot spots. In 1977 Jim put his musical career on hold and took a job as an actuary with IDS Life in Minneapolis. After nearly 25 years as an actuary and becoming an officer of a Fortune 500 company (ReliaStar), Jim retired from the business world. During his business years he played sporadically with company bands (The Bad Actuarial Band and the ReliaStars featuring the Do-Wop Girls). Jim joined Judge Bennett (see the history of Judge Bennett on the menu on the left) near the end of 2004 and began writing music in the fall of 2005.
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After completing his degree in creative writing (prose fiction), Jim joined a touring club band (Prentice Minner & Company) as a woodwind player, then another touring act (The Wright Brothers) as a bass player. Both bands played several weeks at a time in the nicest lounge/show rooms in the city and Jim toured the US and Canada for 18 months.