James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mississippi. The 53-acre (21 ha) farm was owned by his father, James. His mother was Idella (“Ida”) Shumpert of Oklahoma City, an organist of “more than average ability”. Seven months after James Melvin was born, the family moved to Oklahoma City. The family next moved to Denver where Lunceford went to high school and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, whose band was soon to acquire a national reputation. As a child in Denver, he learned several instruments. After high school, Lunceford continued his studies at Fisk University. In 1922, he played alto saxophone in a local band led by the violinist George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader.

In 1927, while an athletic instructor at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee, Lunceford organized a student band, the Chickasaw Syncopators, whose name was changed to the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. Under the new name, the band started its professional career in 1929, and made its first recordings in 1930. Lunceford was the first public high school band director in Memphis.

After a period of touring, in 1934 the band accepted a booking at the Harlem nightclub The Cotton Club for their revue “Cotton Club Parade” starring Adelaide Hall. The Cotton Club had already featured Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, who won their first widespread fame from their inventive shows for the Cotton Club’s all-white patrons. With their tight musicianship and the often outrageous humor in their music and lyrics, Lunceford’s orchestra made an ideal band for the club, and Lunceford’s reputation began to steadily grow.