In 1977, James R. Denton matriculated into the third class of Rice University's new Shepherd School of Music – at that time, a dual degree program – and earned his B.Mus. (magna cum laude) and M.Mus. degrees in 1982. While there, he studied cello with Houston Symphony Principal Cellist, Shirley Trepel. As a post-graduate, he studied with William Pleeth in London (1982-83), Lev Aronson in Dallas (1983-85), and Robert LaMarchina in Honolulu (1986-88).

Denton became active as an alumnus in SYZYGY, the New Music at Rice series. He performed "Grave, Metamorphoses for Cello and Piano" by Witold Lutoslawski and "Canto di Speranza for Piano Quartet" by Jan Tausinger, both of which were reviewed favorably by Charles Ward, Music Critic of the Houston Chronicle. In 1985, Denton soloed on Dvořák's Cello Concerto as Guest Artist with the Galveston Symphony.

From 1985-88, Denton was a cellist with the Honolulu Symphony and the Hawaii Opera Theatre. He was also Instructor of Cello and Chamber Music at the Punahou Music School. In addition to his faculty recitals, Denton performed multiple times in the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art in concerts with Joseph Silverstein and José Feghali. The March 1988 performance with Feghali was Denton's "farewell" recital, subsequent to winning an audition with the Houston Symphony earlier that season. It was released as a CD in 2013, entitled "LIVES: James Denton & José Feghali."

After moving back to Texas in 1988 for his position with the Houston Symphony, Denton was invited by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach and composer-in-residence Tobias Picker to appear as a Guest Artist on the Houston Symphony's 1989 INNOVA Concert Series. Denton performed Aribert Reimann's "Nocturnos for Violoncello and Harp," also favorably reviewed by Ward.

From 1995-99, Denton founded and developed Cigar.com, an LLC registered in Texas. Under his leadership, it grew exponentially to become the dominant portal site for the retail cigar industry. In 1996, after receiving a request for cigars from a U.S. Army Captain stationed in Hungary, Denton spearheaded "Operation Cigar Lift," an innovative marketing campaign that supplied over 100,000 donated cigars to U.S. military personnel serving in Operation Joint Endeavor.

In 1997, Denton conceived of "Virtual Postcards" as a way to bring the Houston Symphony European Tour to its patrons via the Internet. He coordinated an educational outreach program with Parker Elementary School, an HISD Exemplary School for instrumental music. Students studied the culture of each country to which the orchestra traveled, and posted messages daily for the Musicians of the Houston Symphony to answer on a private USENET group. Denton's efforts garnered a presentation to the Directors of Marketing and Development at the 1997 League of American Orchestras convention in Washington, D.C. Shortly after his seminar, virtually every American orchestra that toured adopted variations of his "Virtual Postcards."

Denton has presented internet seminars to the League of American Orchestras, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR), the Austin Symphony Orchestra Board, and the Houston Symphony Society, whose inaugural website his company designed and maintained. He organized fundraising concerts for CanCare (1994) and Holocaust Museum Houston (1999), in addition to benefit performances for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith and the Coalition for Mutual Respect.

At the end of 1999, Denton sold his assets and dissolved the corporation, thereby avoiding the crash of the "dot-com bubble" and becoming one of the few internet companies at that time to actually demonstrate a profit. His efforts have been featured in the Wall Street Journal & the Houston Chronicle newspapers; Parade, Reader's Digest, Texas Business, Houston Business Journal, Symphony, Tobacconist, Cigar Monthly, and Smokeshop magazines; and Slipped Disc & CultureMap internet magazines.

In 1977, James R. Denton matriculated into the third class of Rice University's new Shepherd School of Music – at that time, a dual degree program – and earned his B.Mus. (magna cum laude) and M.Mus. degrees in 1982. While there, he studied cello with Houston Symphony Principal Cellist, Shirley Trepel. As a post-graduate, he studied with William Pleeth in London (1982-83), Lev Aronson in Dallas (1983-85), and Robert LaMarchina in Honolulu (1986-88).

Denton became active as an alumnus in SYZYGY, the New Music at Rice series. He performed "Grave, Metamorphoses for Cello and Piano" by Witold Lutoslawski and "Canto di Speranza for Piano Quartet" by Jan Tausinger, both of which were reviewed favorably by Charles Ward, Music Critic of the Houston Chronicle. In 1985, Denton soloed on Dvořák's Cello Concerto as Guest Artist with the Galveston Symphony.

From 1985-88, Denton was a cellist with the Honolulu Symphony and the Hawaii Opera Theatre. He was also Instructor of Cello and Chamber Music at the Punahou Music School. In addition to his faculty recitals, Denton performed multiple times in the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art in concerts with Joseph Silverstein and José Feghali. The March 1988 performance with Feghali was Denton's "farewell" recital, subsequent to winning an audition with the Houston Symphony earlier that season. It was released as a CD in 2013, entitled "LIVES: James Denton & José Feghali."

After moving back to Texas in 1988 for his position with the Houston Symphony, Denton was invited by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach and composer-in-residence Tobias Picker to appear as a Guest Artist on the Houston Symphony's 1989 INNOVA Concert Series. Denton performed Aribert Reimann's "Nocturnos for Violoncello and Harp," also favorably reviewed by Ward.

From 1995-99, Denton founded and developed Cigar.com, an LLC registered in Texas. Under his leadership, it grew exponentially to become the dominant portal site for the retail cigar industry. In 1996, after receiving a request for cigars from a U.S. Army Captain stationed in Hungary, Denton spearheaded "Operation Cigar Lift," an innovative marketing campaign that supplied over 100,000 donated cigars to U.S. military personnel serving in Operation Joint Endeavor.

In 1997, Denton conceived of "Virtual Postcards" as a way to bring the Houston Symphony European Tour to its patrons via the Internet. He coordinated an educational outreach program with Parker Elementary School, an HISD Exemplary School for instrumental music. Students studied the culture of each country to which the orchestra traveled, and posted messages daily for the Musicians of the Houston Symphony to answer on a private USENET group. Denton's efforts garnered a presentation to the Directors of Marketing and Development at the 1997 League of American Orchestras convention in Washington, D.C. Shortly after his seminar, virtually every American orchestra that toured adopted variations of his "Virtual Postcards."

Denton has presented internet seminars to the League of American Orchestras, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR), the Austin Symphony Orchestra Board, and the Houston Symphony Society, whose inaugural website his company designed and maintained. He organized fundraising concerts for CanCare (1994) and Holocaust Museum Houston (1999), in addition to benefit performances for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith and the Coalition for Mutual Respect.

At the end of 1999, Denton sold his assets and dissolved the corporation, thereby avoiding the crash of the "dot-com bubble" and becoming one of the few internet companies at that time to actually demonstrate a profit. His efforts have been featured in the Wall Street Journal & the Houston Chronicle newspapers; Parade, Reader's Digest, Texas Business, Houston Business Journal, Symphony, Tobacconist, Cigar Monthly, and Smokeshop magazines; and Slipped Disc & CultureMap internet magazines.