James Buffington

James Lawrence Buffington (May 15, 1922, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania – July 20, 1981, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American jazz, studio, and classical hornist.

Buffington was a busy studio and jazz player on the French horn. He was an autodidact as a child, though his father played piano and trumpet. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music and began playing in New York City in the 1950s, with Oscar Pettiford among others. He played with Mel Powell in 1954 and Teddy Charles in 1956.

He is perhaps best known for his work with Miles Davis on some of his Gil Evans sessions for Columbia Records. He has done extensive work as a session musician, and has recorded with Moondog, Carly Simon, James Brown, Urbie Green, Jimmy Cleveland, Ernie Royal, Britt Woodman, Don Butterfield, Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, J. J. Johnson, Quincy Jones, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Michel Legrand, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond, Eddie Sauter, Oliver Nelson, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, the Modern Jazz Quartet and Grover Washington, Jr. Late in the 1970s he played with Freddie Hubbard, Gato Barbieri and George Benson; in 1980 he played on a Helen Merrill album.

Buffington released some solo work but it is far less well known.

Discography
With Manny Albam With Gato Barbieri With Donald Byrd With Teddy Charles With Al Cohn With John Coltrane With Hank Crawford With Miles Davis With Paul Desmond With Bill Evans With Gil Evans With Art Farmer With Maynard Ferguson With Curtis Fuller With Stan Getz With Dizzy Gillespie With Jimmy Heath With Jackie and Roy With J. J. Johnson With Quincy Jones With Yusef Lateef With Michel Legrand With Mundell Lowe With Arif Mardin With Helen Merrill With the Modern Jazz Quartet With Hugo Montenegro With James Moody With David "Fathead" Newman With Houston Person With Lalo Schifrin With Don Sebesky With Sonny Stitt With Gábor Szabó With Billy Taylor With Stanley Turrentine With Julius Watkins With Randy Weston With Phil Woods
 * The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) with Ernie Wilkins
 * Brass on Fire (Sold State, 1966)
 * Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata (Impulse!, 1974)
 * I'm Tryin' to Get Home (Blue Note, 1965)
 * Word from Bird (Atlantic, 1957)
 * Son of Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1960)
 * The Complete Africa/Brass Session (Impulse! Records, 1961)
 * Wildflower (Kudu, 1973)
 * Miles Ahead (Columbia, 1957)
 * Sketches Of Spain  (Columbia, 1959–60)
 * Summertime (A&M/CTI, 1968)
 * From the Hot Afternoon (A&M/CTI, 1969)
 * Symbiosis (MPS, 1974)
 * The Individualism of Gil Evans (Verve, 1963–64)
 * The Aztec Suite (United Artists, 1959)
 * Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra (Mercury, 1962)
 * The Blues Roar (Mainstream, 1965)
 * Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)
 * Mickey One (Verve, 1965)
 * What the World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays Burt Bacharach and Hal David (Verve, 1968)
 * Dizzy and Strings (Norgran, 1954)
 * Gillespiana (Verve, 1960)
 * Carnegie Hall Concert (Verve, 1961)
 * Perceptions (Verve, 1961)
 * With Coleman Hawkins
 * The Hawk in Hi Fi (RCA Victor, 1956)
 * Swamp Seed (Riverside, 1963)
 * Time & Love (CTI, 1972)
 * J.J.! (RCA Victor, 1964)
 * Broadway Express (RCA Victor, 1965)
 * Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
 * Golden Boy (Mercury, 1964)
 * Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1959-65 [1965])
 * Strike Up the Band (Mercury, 1964)
 * The Doctor is In... and Out (Atlantic, 1976)
 * Legrand Jazz (Philips, 1958)
 * New Music of Alec Wilder (Riverside, 1956)
 * Satan in High Heels (soundtrack) (Charlie Parker, 1961)
 * Journey (Atlantic, 1974)
 * Casa Forte (Emarcy, 1980)
 * Plastic Dreams (Atlantic, 1971)
 * Arriba! (Time Records, 1960)
 * Moody with Strings (Argo, 1961)
 * The Blues and Other Colors (Milestone, 1969)
 * Scratch My Back (Prestige, 1979)
 * Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (Prestige, 1972)
 * Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)
 * Giant Box (CTI, 1973)
 * Mr. Bojangles (Cadet, 1973)
 * Mizrab (CTI, 1972)
 * My Fair Lady Loves Jazz (Impulse!, 1957)
 * The Man with the Sad Face (Fantasy, 1976)
 * Nightwings (Fantasy, 1977)
 * French Horns for My Lady (Philips, 1962)
 * Blue Moses (CTI, 1972)
 * Round Trip (Verve, 1969)