Trevor Beresford Romeo

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, (born 26 January 1963) better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of Soul II Soul.

Life and career

Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

n descent in Hornsey, London, the ninth of ten children, several of whom began running

sound systems In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. At age 18, Jazzie was working for cockney pop skiffle legend Tommy Steele, as a tape operator. He had his first gig in 1977 working with friends under the

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of ...

name

Jah Jah or Yah ( he, , ''Yāh'') is a short form of (YHWH), the four letters that form the tetragrammaton, the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even th ...

Rico. He changed their working name to Soul II Soul in 1982. Soul II Soul was originally an umbrella name for several of his projects - the sound system, a clothing line and

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

record shop, a record imprint, as well as the group itself. From 1985 to 1989, Jazzie and Soul II Soul would hold what would be regarded as a legendary night at the Africa Centre in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. The Soul II Soul track "Fairplay" was recorded there just before the group started to find wider success. The nights at the Africa Centre would be celebrated in the 2003 compilation "Soul II Soul At The Africa Centre". In March 1991 he launched the label Funki Dreds and signed the singers Lady Levi and

Kofi Kofi is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Ashanti and Fante) in Ghana that is given to a boy born on Friday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their Outdooring, eight days aft ...

to the label. At this time, he would also host a show on then pirate radio station

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

, which would continue through its legal licence and until 1997. From 2009 to 2012, Jazzie B hosted the "Back 2 Life" radio show on BBC London 94.9, which he then bought to Mi-Soul since 2014. Jazzie has produced and remixed tracks for the likes of Incognito, Maxi Priest,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, Kym Mazelle, Cheryl Lynn, Teena Marie, Johnny Gill, Ziggy Marley,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, and

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

. He is a founding director of the

Featured Artists Coalition The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) is a United Kingdom, UK-based Nonprofit organization, nonprofit organisation for featured musical artists. The organisation was founded by a number of artists in early 2009. It lobbying, lobbies and politic ...

. He has a daughter Jessye (an actress), and a son

Mahlon Mahlon ( ''Maḥlōn'') and Chilion (כִּלְיוֹן ''Ḵilyōn'') were two brothers mentioned in the Book of Ruth. They were the sons of Elimelech of the tribe of Judah and his wife Naomi. Together with their parents, they settled in the lan ...

who plays professional football for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Honours

In 2002, he was listed first in the Business category of the "

100 Great Black Britons ''100 Great Black Britons'' is a poll that was first undertaken in 2003 to vote for and celebrate the greatest Black Britons of all time. It was created in a campaign initiated by Patrick Vernon in response to a BBC search for '' 100 Greatest Brit ...

" list. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) by Elizabeth II in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...

. In May 2008, he was awarded the first Inspiration award at the Ivor Novello Awards, for being "a pioneer" and "the man who gave

black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

music a soul of its own".

Discography

Compilation albums A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

* Jazzie B Presents ''Soul II Soul at the Africa Centre'' (Casual, 2003) * Jazzie B Presents ''School Days: Life Changing Tracks From The Trojan Archives'' (Trojan Records, Trojan, 2008) * ''

Masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' (

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

, 2008)

References

External links

Jazzie B website

Soul II Soul website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jazzie B 1963 births Living people People from Hornsey English male singers English DJs Black British DJs English record producers English male rappers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Ivor Novello Award winners Keytarists Singers from London English people of Antigua and Barbuda descent Soul II Soul members