Biography
This partnership between veteran jazz practitioners and Gang Starr’s Guru, born Keith Elam on 18 July 1966 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA, has demonstrated lasting appeal both commercially and artistically. Participants on the opening chapter encompassed N’Dea Davenport of Brand New Heavies alongside Carleen Anderson, Courtney Pine, Branford Marsalis, Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith and French rapper MC Solaar. The project’s imaginative blend gained focus through the single “No Time To Play,” which spotlighted vocals by Dee C. Lee of Style Council and thereby revived her own trajectory. Foundations for Jazzmatazz trace back to Gang Starr’s “Jazz Thing,” a Marsalis collaboration that Spike Lee selected as the theme for his film Mo’ Better Blues. A follow-up instalment arrived in 1995, incorporating a duet with Chaka Khan and production from the Solsonics. The third chapter, issued in October 2000, adopted a sharper urban edge through appearances by Macy Gray, Donell Jones, Angie Stone, the Roots, Kelis and Craig David, with production handled by Guru, Dallas Austin, the Neptunes and DJ Scratch.
Albums
