James letting loose: Dimitri from Paris @ Goodwood June 2024

James

There are some lights
that don’t fade,
even when the night falls.
James was one of those,
a quiet brightness
that never asked for attention,
yet filled the room
without trying.

He moved like wind through trees
soft, certain,
making space for others to stand tall.
He was a builder of moments,
he was the light.
He showed up,
held space,
saw the world through a lens most of us missed, the beauty in the mess,
the potential in the ordinary.

James saw what was hidden in people,
the good, the grace,
the potential that others didn’t see.
He saw you before you saw yourself.
That was his gift.
Not just in art, or music,
but in life.

Yet Music was his language,
but not just in sound.
He understood the rhythm of people,
the way a moment could shift,
the way a gesture could heal.
He found his freedom in the beat,
and in that freedom, he showed us how to be.

James didn’t wear his faith like armor,
he lived it like breath
a quiet certainty,
a way of being that spoke more than any sermon.
He saw the best in us even when we couldn’t, and pushed us to reach for more.

He built things:
Family, community,
friendships,
a world that felt just a little kinder
because he was in it.

He may have left us but he’s not gone.
Some people leave marks
too deep to wash away.
And James James is in the silence between the beats,
in the spaces where light still lingers,
in the community he built
with love.

This isn’t goodbye We carry him with us,
in the dance,
in the light,
in the quiet moments
when the world is still.