James Anthony Walker

Music for a Candlelight Christmas is the invitation extended by new age maestro James Anthony Walker on a 2003 self-published CD. Walker's settings of holiday standards such as "Jingle Bells" include an Appalachian touch with dulcimer and guitar, backed by a string section. Surprisingly, this artist claims the influence of both Frank Zappa and Luciano Berio. The veracity of these claims is difficult to determine due to an astounding bit of self-censorship. According to his website, Walker "withdrew all existing work from circulation in 1985 for personal and artistic reasons." Walker is a graduate of Boston University and subsequently became the director of the first electronic music studio at the University of Chicago. He then became a director of marketing for Gibson guitars, a position he left in the '80s.