At an early age he began piano, violin and theory lessons, and served as choirboy in several New Jersey churches.
In World War I James played in and subsequently became bandleader of the American Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Band.
In 1923 James began a long teaching career at New York University, serving as head of the music department from 1934 until his retirement in 1956.
In 1932 he won a $5000 prize from NBC for his satirical composition Station WGZBX, which subsequently received performances by many major orchestras.
Though he remained active as a composer until his death in 1975, James' larger-scale compositions were infrequently played after the mid-twentieth century.