About JD (James “JD” Durant)

Founder of JD’s Legacy Kitchen – Story, Sauce & Soul

My name is James “JD” Durant — a Bronx-born musician, author, and kidney cancer and stroke survivor who has spent more than 30 years living, performing, and rebuilding my life in Japan.

I’ve lived more than one lifetime. I’ve stood on stages around the world. I’ve cooked through heartbreak, sickness, recovery, and reinvention. And somewhere along the way, the kitchen became my sanctuary, my therapy, and my way home.

Music, Struggle & Soul

I grew up in the Bronx with soul music in my blood. I became a keyboardist, arranger, bandleader, and singer — performing in New York, Thailand, Tokyo, and everywhere in between. My life was music, motion, and survival.

But life hit back hard — cancer, a stroke, recovery, loss, pressure, disappointment, and starting over when most people are settling down. Through all of it, I learned a truth:

You don’t survive on food alone. You survive on flavor, memory, creativity, and truth.

How Cooking Saved Me

After cancer surgery and a stroke, I couldn’t eat the way I used to. Salt had to drop. Inflammation had to drop. But my flavor? My culture? My soul?

That couldn’t drop.

So I rebuilt the way I eat — not bland hospital food, but real dishes with garlic, herbs, white wine, butter (just enough), low-sodium techniques, and Bronx seasoning with Tokyo discipline. Cooking became part survival… and part resurrection.

What JD’s Legacy Kitchen Stands For

• Soulful, low-sodium cooking made for real survival
• Seasoning blends and sauces that keep flavor high and salt low
• Stories from the Bronx to Tokyo
• Real food — not trends, not filters, not fake “chef tricks”
• A kitchen that respects the body and honors the soul

Why I Built This Kitchen

Because after everything I’ve lived through… I wanted to leave something real behind.

Something for people who are fighting kidney disease, healing from trauma or illness, feeling alone, or trying to rebuild their life one meal at a time.

This is my legacy. This is my truth. This is my kitchen.

What’s Next

JD’s Legacy Kitchen is expanding into:

• An updated cookbook
• Hot sauce & low-sodium seasoning lines
• More Legacy Recipes
• Cooking videos
• Stories told through food and music

If you’re ready to cook with soul, flavor, and truth… welcome to the kitchen.

— James “JD” Durant