What the hell has Colin James been up to lately? Well, as it turns out, while most of the celebrity world has been cowering in the face of the war with Iraq, the Canadian blues/swing guitarist has been partying with the stars.

James has spent the last while in Los Angeles, where he's been working hard at the Paramour Studios on his upcoming album. By sheer chance, Paramour was also the site of this year's Vanity Fair/Banana Republic pre-Oscar party. Out of convenience, and a respect for the personable musician, the party organizers asked James if he would like to treat the Hollywood elite to a few songs.

So, Wednesday night (March 19), James brought out his guitar and played for the stars. Celebs in attendance included Brad Pitt, Courtenay Cox, David Arquette, Sheryl Crow and David Spade.

The important news, however, is that James has made all sorts of progress on the new album. The guitarist has now returned to his home base of Vancouver to do the over dubs for the album. In April he'll head back down to sunny L.A. to do all the mixing with producer Mark Howard, who's also worked with Lucinda Williams. James' new album is expected to hit stores in the latter part of this year.