James Harman began his career as a musician in the early sixties in Florida, where he formed the Icehouse Blues Band. After recording some singles, he moved to California and with the band were playing alongside blues major names such as John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Freddie King, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins or Muddy Waters. Before forming The James Harman Blues Band in 1977, few West Coast blues bands like James's had line-ups like this. Phil Alvin, Kid Ramos, Michael "Hollywood Fats" Mann, Junior Watson, David Hidalgo, Gene Taylor, Fred Kaplan or Anson Funderburgh among many others were with Harman live or in the recording studio. The albums released since the mid-eighties, first with Riviera Records and from 1990 with Black Top Records they accumulated reasons to be among the best west coast blues sessions of that decade. In 1995 "Black & White" was released, being the last album with the band's name on the cover. and the last in Black Top Records. Since 1998 , Harman released by his own eight more studio albums, including a compilation, which reaffirmed the harmonica player as one of the best blues artists of his generation.