''Jazzmatazz'' is a series of
hip hop and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
recordings from American rapper
Guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
.
In a 2009 interview he reflected, "Back around '93—when I first came up with the ''Jazzmatazz'' concept—I was noticing how a lot of cats were digging in the crates and sampling jazz breaks to make hip hop records. But while I thought that was cool, I wanted to take it to the next level and actually create a new genre by getting the actual dudes we were sampling into the studio to jam over hip hop beats with some of the top vocalists of the time. You know, the whole thing was experimental, but I knew it was an idea that would spawn some historic music."
Some of those involved in the creation of the work have included
N'Dea Davenport
N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band the Brand New Heavies and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz.
Career
Her ...
,
Carleen Anderson
Carleen Cassandra Anderson (born May 10, 1957) is an American singer and musician. She is known for her work with the Young Disciples and numerous collaborations. Her distinguished solo career began in 1992. She is the acclaimed composer, writer ...
,
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...
,
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...
,
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Pol ...
,
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...
,
Lonnie Liston Smith
Lonnie Liston Smith Jr. (born December 28, 1940) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with such jazz artists as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of ...
,
MC Solaar
Claude M'Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar (; born 5 March 1969), is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the best French rapper of all t ...
,
Dee C Lee
Diane Catherine Sealy (born 6 June 1961), known as Dee C. Lee, is a British singer. Born to Saint Lucian parents, she grew up in south east London. Early in her career, she was a member of the British band Central Line under the aliases Dee Se ...
and
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 ...
.
Albums
* ''
Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
''Jazzmatazz Volume 1 (An Experimental Fusion of Hip-Hop and Jazz)'' is the debut solo studio album by American hip hop recording artist Guru (rapper), Guru. It was released on May 18, 1993 through Chrysalis Records. Recording sessions took place ...
'', 1993
* ''
Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality'', 1995
* ''
Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul'', 2000
* ''
Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future'', 2007
* ''
Guru's Jazzmatazz: The Timebomb Back to the Future Mixtape'', 2007
* ''
The Best of Guru's Jazzmatazz
''The Best of Guru's Jazzmatazz'' is a greatest hits album released by Guru on Virgin Records. This compilation includes tracks from the first three volumes of the Jazzmatazz series, as well as remixes and alternate versions. Tracks 1-6 & 17 (1993 ...
'', 2008
References
{{Reflist
Album series