Born in Corpus Christi in 1940, pianist Dr. James Polk is professor emeritus of Jazz Studies at Texas State University. His career in music included a decade as pianist, arranger and musical director with Ray Charles and he led James Polk and The Brothers. That band's recording "Just Plain Funk" stands as one of the funkiest 70s tracks of all. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.