Layton Bray James

Layton “Skip” Bray James, of Hudson, WI, passed away on November 3, 2026 after a short illness with pancreatic cancer.Skip was born in East Orange, NJ to parents Layton Hall James and Charlotte Bray James on March 2, 1941. The family made their home in South Orange, NJ where Skip attended public school, graduating from Columbia High School in 1959.Displaying a gift for music at a very young age, he attended Helen Bender’s Summit School of Music weekly from age 4 to 17, which provided him training in music skills and frequent chances to attend concerts in New York City. His piano teacher from age 5 was Miss Tsuya Matsuki, a protégé of famed British pianist Dame Myra Hess. As a young boy, Skip was taken out of Sunday school to play the final hymn on the organ at First Presbyterian and Trinity Church in South Orange so the organist, William Pickett, could leave early for afternoon gigs.

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