James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947)[1] was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.

Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mississippi, United States.

[4] In 1922, he played alto saxophone in a local band led by the violinist George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader.

Lunceford's stage shows often included costumes, skits, and obvious jabs at mainstream white bands, such as Paul Whiteman's and Guy Lombardo's.

(Oliver departed the group before the scheduled European tour to take a position as an arranger for Tommy Dorsey).

[17] Dr. Alton Alderman performed an autopsy in nearby Astoria, Oregon, and concluded that Lunceford died of coronary occlusion.

In 1999, band-leader Robert Veen and a team of musicians set out to acquire permission to use the original band charts and arrangements of the Jimmie Lunceford canon.

"The Jimmie Lunceford Legacy Orchestra" officially debuted in July 2005 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.

Ronald Cortez Herd II (aka 'R2C2H2 Tha Artivist') in 2007 with the aim of increasing recognition of Lunceford's contribution to jazz, particularly in Memphis, Tennessee.

An eight-volume series from the Masters of Jazz imprint on French Média 7 and Musisoft attempted the same chronological traverse under the direction of Bruno Théol, Christian Bonnet, Jacques Lubin and Lionel Risler, released 1991 thru 2000: