The Jamaica Boys was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

-based,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

trio, that existed in the late 1980s. Group member Mark Stevens was the brother of

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

, and also toured with her as a backup singer. One of their members,

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

, was

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

partner on several of the latter's hits.

Members

* Mark Stevens *

Dinky Bingham Dinky Bingham (born Osborne Gould Bingham, Jr., 1963 in Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, producer, and engineer. Biography Raised in Jamaica, Queens, and now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bingham is ...

(who replaced Mark Stevens) *

Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...

Bernard Wright Bernard Wright (November 16, 1963 – May 19, 2022) was an American funk and jazz keyboardist and singer who began his career as a session musician and later released four solo albums. Biography Wright was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. ...

Spaceman Patterson William "Spaceman" Patterson is a guitarist and producer, who has collaborated with Miles Davis, James Brown and Frank Ocean. History Spaceman Patterson was one of the musicians in Miles Davis' touring line-up in the 1980s. In 1992, Patterso ...

* Eric "CoDee" Cody

Singles

* Shake It Up! (1990) * Pick Up The Phone! (1990) * (It's That) Lovin' Feeling (1987) * Spend Some Time With Me (1988)

Discography

* ''Jamaica Boys'',

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, 1987 * ''J Boys'', Warner Bros. Records, 1989 * ''Shake It Up'', Warner Bros. Records, 1990

References

{{Authority control American jazz ensembles from New York City American funk musical groups Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 1986 establishments in New York (state) 1991 disestablishments in New York (state)