Cover photo © 2025 Joe Rosen
Many musicians start their career working horrible day jobs or playing with not-so-talented local bands until their first break. Others seem to fall naturally into wonderful opportunities from the beginning of their career. Saxophonist extraordinaire, Doug James seems to be a member of the latter category, joining the extremely popular group, Roomful of Blues, at a very young age. Doug, whose real name is Douglas James Schlecht, has since had five Grammy nominations, won a W.C. Handy Award and has had multiple nominations for Blues Music Awards. Blues Blast Magazine had the opportunity recently to learn more about this artist who was nicknamed “Mr. Low” after the song Joe Williams recorded, and also due to his preference for the lower-ranged baritone saxophone.
Doug’s father was a Lutheran minister, and his mother played organ in his father’s church. They were initially hesitant about the idea of Doug becoming a full-time musician. However, unlike some parents with strong religious backgrounds who tend to be wary of “secular” music, they soon became supportive of Doug’s decision to pursue a career in the blues.
“I remember sitting on a bench and watching my mother play music in church. And I remember listening to music when I was a kid and something seemed to get hold of me from nine or ten years of age. People told me that at age ten I was buying people blues records as gifts, and then I would borrow them back because they didn’t like them and wouldn’t return them. I was briefly in the stage band in high school, but they fired me because I kept making up my own baritone sax parts, (which were actually pretty good). I know one time I stole a baritone saxophone from my high school and didn’t give it back until a couple of years later. But my parents were very supportive of my decision to go into music as a career, and I left home (Turlock, California) when I was sixteen and took off around the country. I started in Portland, Oregon and when I got to the East Coast, I joined Roomful of Blues and just started working all of the time.”
Doug noted that Roomful of Blues had some difficulty at first being accepted because it didn’t neatly fit entirely into one genre of music. However, they soon became a crowd favorite and earned the respect of some of the legends of the business.
“Initially there was quite a bit of resistance to us. Here was Duke Robillard in a suit playing a combination of ‘50’s R&B, Jazz and Blues. For blues people we were too jazzy and for jazz people we were too bluesy. I remember people throwing stuff at us when we played at a disco, and at one place the manager got onstage right before we played and said that he was sorry the band they initially hired couldn’t make it and he was willing to give people their money back if they wanted it. But it wasn’t too long before we ended up playing with many of the greats. It was one of the best experiences of my life to get to play, record, and just hang out with Big Joe Turner. And we played every night for two weeks with Bobby Bland, and opened up for Professor Longhair, which was amazing. I remember one time we were playing with Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and I looked over at the door and thought, ‘gee—that guy looks just like Count Basie.’ He came in and it was Count Basie. He had flown up from the Bahamas to hear us in a club north of Boston.”
Since playing with Roomful of Blues, Doug has released his own albums, including his debut solo album, Blow, Mr. Low, in which he played tribute to his heroes such as Paul Williams, Haywood Henry and Leo Parker. He also has had many amazing opportunities to collaborate with others, including backing artists such as Big Joe Tuner, Freddie King, Charlie Musselwhite, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Jimmie Vaughan, Red Prysock, and Duke Robillard. Additionally, he has contributed to many artists’ albums, including Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Louis Walker, Colin James, Jay McShann, Billy Boy Arnold, Rosco Gordon, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. He found he didn’t need to adapt his style of playing even though that is a highly diverse list of artists. And he is a believer in the music sometimes being found in the space between the notes, which is a philosophy that influences the advice he offers new, young artists.
“What I play is what I play. Albert Collins told me not to ever show up at one of his shows without bringing my horn, and Professor Longhair offered me a job, but we were promoting our first record, so I had to say no. Then I worked with Jimmie Vaughan for ten years. But I sound like me no matter who I join. The style that I play works with a lot of different types of music. Jimmie Vaughan believed you shouldn’t play the first thing that comes into your head, just like you shouldn’t say the first thing that comes into your mind. Take Duke Robillard—you never hear him playing too much on anything. I think that is the most common mistake new young artists make. They get to a certain level, and they think they should play in public, but they don’t know how to play with other people. They might start right out playing in a song. I say ‘stop playing—you don’t even know what the song is yet. Calm down.’ Mac (Dr. John) told me about how, in NOLA, if you didn’t know what you were doing the whole band would just stop and they would watch you until you would have to walk out the door. None of this warm, fuzzy stuff!”
The shutdown of venues during the pandemic was devastating to many musicians, and “sidemen” often found it the most difficult, as bandleaders/singers had an easier time doing some livestream performances online. While recognizing the tragedy of the many losses during that time, Doug noted that surprisingly he did not find that to be a terribly challenging time for him personally and noted that the biggest challenge for him was when he got sober 29 years ago.
“I had been traveling and playing so much my whole life that if people had seen my schedule, they would have thought it must be a misprint. So, although we all missed playing, I just used that time to recharge my battery. The biggest challenge in my career was no longer getting loaded 24/7. I had been doing that for 28 years and thought it made things sound better, so trying to learn to play without it was interesting. Finally, there was no way around it—I had to stop because I would get high and still feel like shit. Being straight is the way to go for me now, and paying bills is the way I get high these days.”
Doug is a strong believer in the healing effects of the music, which is beneficial both to the musician and to the audience.
“I absolutely believe in the healing effects. It is cathartic and therapeutic to compose music and to play, so much so that I don’t even consciously think about it anymore. And I believe that we, as musicians, offer an important service to the fans in that we can make them forget about their troubles and everything going on in the world for a short period of time. With all the issues going on today, it is our responsibility to help them put those concerns aside for a while, and if we can help them do that and not make people angrier with each other, that is a very good thing.”
Doug is highly in demand to play tours and festivals and recently played in Switzerland with Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Allstars.
“That was just a ball. I got to work with Diunna Greenleaf and Tia Carroll, and Curtis Salgado. Also, Sean “Mack” McDonald—he is just incredible! I told Duke, ‘watch out for this guy. He knows all of the styles and puts it together!’ That Greaseland thing was just a blast. I was the oldest person there. I remember when I used to always be the youngest one. And I always love just dropping in on people, getting to join them and trying to figure out what to play. I just recently sat in with Curtis Salgado, my former roommate from touring with Roomful of Blues. We’ve known each other for so long, so that was really special.”
Doug was asked about new projects that his fans might anticipate.
“At the moment I’m about to get something under my own name, but I’ve had a few medical problems that have delayed that. But I’ll be on the next Duke Robillard album. That must be the eight thousandth Duke record. Duke knows what he wants me to do, and I know what he wants me to do, so it all works out very well. It’s always great to come home and play with Duke! But then, I am just lucky to have been able to make enough money to live on playing music. I stayed incredibly loaded for over 25 years and made it through that. So, I am truly glad to be anywhere!”
Duke Robillard was quick to respond when asked about his work with Doug. “Doug James and I have worked together on and off since the beginning of the three-horn version of Roomful of Blues in the ‘70s. His knowledge of classic rhythm & blues styles, blues and swing is vast and inexhaustible. He’s the premier blues baritone saxophonist working in blues today and became equally great at tenor also. He’s played in my bands for decades and is in demand nationally and internationally. His quick wit is always entertaining, and I’m happy to have him on most of my recordings over the years and to call him a longtime friend.”
If you didn’t think you were familiar with Doug James, you probably realize now that you’ve seen him many times, frequently making many great artists sound even better. Unfortunately, he does not have a website, but you can keep an eye out for him at festivals everywhere, see him play with his own band if you live in the New England area, and should soon be able to purchase his upcoming album. You can also follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doug.james.984
