''Jazzmatazz'', Volume 1: An Experimental Fusion of Hip-Hop and Jazz, is the debut solo studio album by American hip hop recording artist

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

. It was released on May 18, 1993, by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

. The recording sessions took place at D&D Studios, in New York. The album was produced by Guru, who also served as executive producer with Duff Marlowe and Patrick Moxey. The album combines a live

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

band performance with

hip hop production Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and " ...

and

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

. It features contributions from singers N'Dea Davenport,

Carleen Anderson Carleen Cassandra Anderson (born May 10, 1957) is an American musician. She was the vocalist, composer, and musician for the Young Disciples and is known for her numerous, varied collaborations. Her solo career began in 1992. She is credited w ...

, Dee C Lee, French rapper

MC Solaar Claude Honoré M'Barali (; born 5 March 1969), professionally known as MC Solaar (), is a French rapping, rapper of Senegalese people, Senegalese and Chadian people, Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop musi ...

, and musicians Simon Law,

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ens ...

, Courtney Pine,

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

, Gary Barnacle,

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 ...

Ronny Jordan Robert Laurence Albert Simpson, known professionally as Ronny Jordan (29 November 1962 – 13 January 2014) was a British guitarist and part of the acid jazz movement at the end of the twentieth century. Jordan described his music as "urban jazz ...

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

and

Zachary Breaux Zachary Charles Breaux (June 26, 1960 – February 20, 1997)Mark Gilbert: 'Breaux, Zachary', ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 5, 2007), was an American jazz guitarist who was influenced by George Benson and Wes Montgome ...

. Guru, quoted in the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

, talked about his natural affinity for both jazz and rap. "Jazz's mellow tracks, along with the hard rap beat, go hand-in-glove with my voice", he said. The album made it to number 94 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 15 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

in the United States. In spite of the lagging American sales, ''Jazzmatazz'', Vol. 1 was a commercial success in Europe, where jazz was much more popular in the 1990s. It peaked at No. 43 in Germany, No. 49 in Sweden, No. 58 in the UK, No. 67 in the Netherlands, and No. 139 in France. It also apeaked at No. 24 in New Zealand, Oceania. Its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

"Trust Me" peaked at No. 34 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 105 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Its second single, "No Time to Play", peaked at No. 25 in the UK. ''

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' ranked the album at number 20 on their 'The 20 Best Albums of 1993' list.

Critical reception

The '' New York Amsterdam News'' called the album "an experimental fusion of jazz and rap that articulates the ties of Black music through the ages and embodies the quintessence of Afro-American cultures." ''

The Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...

'' noted that "two cuts stand out featuring singer N'Dea Davenport, who offers a fresh voice to the project." ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' determined that "the soloists conjure a variety of deep-hued moods, but Guru stops short of delivering anything more than polite editorials and bland travelogues." ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'' listed ''Jazzmatazz'' as the fifth best album of 1993.

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co- producer.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. Musicians * Keith "

GuRu Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

" Elam – vocals,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

* N'Dea Davenport – vocals (tracks: 3, 9) * Diane " Dee C Lee" Sealy – vocals (track 5) * Claude "

" M'Barali – vocals (track 11) *

– vocals (track 12) * Cary " Big Shug" Guy – additional vocals (track 5) * The Cutthroats – additional vocals (track 10) * Black Jack – additional vocals (track 11) * Mickey "Mus Mus" Mosman – additional vocals (track 11) *

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(track 2) * Simon " The Funky Ginger" Law – keyboards (tracks: 3, 12) *

–

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

and

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

(track 4) *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(track 4) * DJ Jazzy Nice – scratches (track 4) * Robert "

" Simpson – guitar (track 5) *

– acoustic and

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

(track 6) * James "Lil' Dap" Heath – live

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(track 6) *

–

vibraslap The vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire (bent into a U-shape) connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood with metal "teeth" inside. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes the ba ...

and

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(track 8) * Gary Barnacle –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

saxophone 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 instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

(track 10) * Christophe "Jimmy Jay" Viguier – scratches (track 11) * Courtney Pine – flute, alto and soprano saxophone (track 12) Production * Guru – producer, mixing,

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, concept development * Donald Byrd – co-producer (track 2) * N'Dea Davenport – co-producer (tracks: 3, 9) * Branford Marsalis – co-producer (track 4) * Ronny Jordan – co-producer (track 5) * Lonnie Liston Smith – co-producer (track 6) * Roy Ayers – co-producer (track 8) * DJ Jimmy Jay – co-producer (track 11) * MC Solaar – co-producer (track 11) * Courtney Pine – co-producer (track 12) * Carleen Anderson – co-producer (track 12) * Philippe " Zdar" Cerboneschi –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* James B. Mansfield – engineering * Craig Marcus – engineering * Kieran Walsh – engineering * Jason Bell – engineering * Joe Quinde – engineering * Luke Allen – engineering assistant * Doug Boehm – engineering assistant * David Carpenter – engineering assistant * Tracii D. Sherman – engineering assistant * Tony Dawsey – mastering * Patrick Moxey – executive producer, concept development * Duff Marlowe – executive producer Design * Henry Marquez – art direction * Diane Cuddy – design * Michael Benabib – photography * Marc Villalonga – photography * Ray Burmiston – photography *

Bill Adler Bill Adler (born December 18, 1951) is an American music journalist and critic. Since the late 1960s, he has worked in the music business in a variety of capacities, including as a record store clerk, radio disc jockey, critic, publicist, biogra ...

–

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 debut albums Guru (rapper) albums Albums produced by Guru Chrysalis Records albums