James Kippen comes from London, England. He first studied piano under David Parry, and later specialized in composition and conducting at the University of York, where he was also introduced to Indian music by erstwhile guru Neil Sorrell. He went on to the Queen's University of Belfast where he gained a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and Ethnomusicology under John Blacking and John Baily. His research focus was the music culture of Lucknow, India, and in particular that city's community of hereditary drummers. He learned tabla with the great Afaq Hussain Khan (1930-90), and later pakhavaj with Ramakant Pathak. His dissertation was turned into a book: The Tabla of Lucknow (Cambridge University Press, 1988).

During the 1980s and early 90s James Kippen teamed up with Bernard Bel to develop machine learning systems as tools for research into improvisatory strategies used by tabla players. More recently, he has conducted research on the history of pakhavaj and tabla, and has been translating and analysing drum repertoire and notations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His latest book is Gurudev's Drumming Legacy (Ashgate, 2006). The introduction as well as contents and index are available from the Ashgate site (as pdf images). For details, see publications.

James Kippen has been Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto since January 1990. Among the many students he has taught and supervised at the University of Toronto, two have produced fine dissertations on Hindustani music culture: Dr Lowell Lybarger (The Tabla Solo Repertoire of Pakistani Panjab: an Ethnomusiological Perspective, 2003) and Dr Margaret Walker (Kathak Dance: A Critical History, 2004).

Currently James Kippen lives in Toronto, Canada, and is married to the ethnomusicologist Annette Sanger. He is a member of the so-called Toronto Gharana, a group of friends devoted to the preservation and intelligent discussion of great performances of Hindustani music. Together they are creating a Hindustani Music Archive, part of which will be accessible to the general public on the internet.