Groundbreaking Album On 180g Audiophile Vinyl LP!
25th Anniversary Edition!
Numbered, Limited Edition Cool Blue Vinyl - Only 5000 Copies!
As labelled on the front sleeve, Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 is "an experimental fusion of hip-hop and jazz" hosted by Guru (MC and band member of Gang Starr together with DJ Premier). This album was born out of Guru's love for jazz and was one of the first albums to fuse a live jazz band with Rap and R&B artists backed by Hip-Hop styled beats and production. Guru had a vision and brought together a diverse group of jazz cats both old and new school; Lonnie Liston Smith, Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan (check out his solo on the track "No Time To Play"), Donald Byrd and Roy Ayers and vocalists like Carleen Anderson, N'Dea Davenport (of the Brand New Heavies) and French rapper MC Solaar have cooperated on this classic album.
When it was released in 1993, Guru's Jazzmatazz peaked at #24 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart but had far greater commercial success in Europe. Unfortunately Guru (real name: Keith Edward Elam) passed away in 2010 but his legacy influenced Hip-Hop artists like Madlib (on his "Shades Of Blue" project), The Roots and many more.
The 25th Anniversary Edition of this groundbreaking Hip-Hop and Jazz album is pressed on blue vinyl in a limited run of 5,000 individually numbered copies.
"Though it can reasonably be argued that rap grew almost directly out of funk and its particular beat, there are a lot of overlaps with jazz, particularly the bop and post-bop eras: the uninhibited expression, the depiction of urban life, just to name two. Jazz samples have also had a large role in hip-hop, but the idea of rapping over actual live jazz wasn't truly fully realized until Gang Starr MC Guru created and released the first in his Jazzmatazz series in 1993, with guest musicians who included saxophonist Branford Marsalis, trumpeter Donald Byrd, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, guitarist Ronny Jordan, and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as vocalist N'Dea Davenport and French rapper MC Solaar... From Jordan's solo on 'No Time to Play' to Ayers' vibes expertise on 'Take a Look (At Yourself)' to MC Solaar's quick and syllabic rhymes on 'Le Bien, le Mal,' Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (and what turned out to be the best of the series) is a rap album for jazz fans and a jazz album for rap fans, skillful and smart, clean when it needs to be and gritty when that's more effective, helping to legitimize hip-hop to those who doubted it, and making for an altogether important release." - Marisa Brown, AllMusic
Features:
180g Audiophile Vinyl
25th Anniversary Edition
Import
Limited Pressing of 5,000 individually numbered copies on Cool Blue Vinyl
Musicians:
Guru, vocals
Carleen Anderson, vocals
Roy Ayers, vibes
Donald Byrd, trumpet, piano
N'Dea Davenport, vocals
Ronny Jordan, guitar
Courtney Pine, alto & soprano saxophone, flute
Lonnie Liston Smith, acoustic & electric piano
MC Solaar, vocals
Gary Barnacle, saxophone, flute
Zachary Breaux, guitar
DC Lee, vocals
Simon Law, keyboards
Selections:
Side A:
1. Introduction
2. Loungin'
3. When You're Near
4. Transit Ride
5. No Time To Play
6. Down The Backstreets
Side B:
1. Respectful Dedications
2. Take A Look (At Yourself)
3. Trust Me
4. Slicker Than Most
5. Le Bien, Le Mal
6. Sights In The City
25th Anniversary Edition!
Numbered, Limited Edition Cool Blue Vinyl - Only 5000 Copies!
As labelled on the front sleeve, Guru's Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 is "an experimental fusion of hip-hop and jazz" hosted by Guru (MC and band member of Gang Starr together with DJ Premier). This album was born out of Guru's love for jazz and was one of the first albums to fuse a live jazz band with Rap and R&B artists backed by Hip-Hop styled beats and production. Guru had a vision and brought together a diverse group of jazz cats both old and new school; Lonnie Liston Smith, Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan (check out his solo on the track "No Time To Play"), Donald Byrd and Roy Ayers and vocalists like Carleen Anderson, N'Dea Davenport (of the Brand New Heavies) and French rapper MC Solaar have cooperated on this classic album.
When it was released in 1993, Guru's Jazzmatazz peaked at #24 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart but had far greater commercial success in Europe. Unfortunately Guru (real name: Keith Edward Elam) passed away in 2010 but his legacy influenced Hip-Hop artists like Madlib (on his "Shades Of Blue" project), The Roots and many more.
The 25th Anniversary Edition of this groundbreaking Hip-Hop and Jazz album is pressed on blue vinyl in a limited run of 5,000 individually numbered copies.
"Though it can reasonably be argued that rap grew almost directly out of funk and its particular beat, there are a lot of overlaps with jazz, particularly the bop and post-bop eras: the uninhibited expression, the depiction of urban life, just to name two. Jazz samples have also had a large role in hip-hop, but the idea of rapping over actual live jazz wasn't truly fully realized until Gang Starr MC Guru created and released the first in his Jazzmatazz series in 1993, with guest musicians who included saxophonist Branford Marsalis, trumpeter Donald Byrd, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, guitarist Ronny Jordan, and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as vocalist N'Dea Davenport and French rapper MC Solaar... From Jordan's solo on 'No Time to Play' to Ayers' vibes expertise on 'Take a Look (At Yourself)' to MC Solaar's quick and syllabic rhymes on 'Le Bien, le Mal,' Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (and what turned out to be the best of the series) is a rap album for jazz fans and a jazz album for rap fans, skillful and smart, clean when it needs to be and gritty when that's more effective, helping to legitimize hip-hop to those who doubted it, and making for an altogether important release." - Marisa Brown, AllMusic
Features:
180g Audiophile Vinyl
25th Anniversary Edition
Import
Limited Pressing of 5,000 individually numbered copies on Cool Blue Vinyl
Musicians:
Guru, vocals
Carleen Anderson, vocals
Roy Ayers, vibes
Donald Byrd, trumpet, piano
N'Dea Davenport, vocals
Ronny Jordan, guitar
Courtney Pine, alto & soprano saxophone, flute
Lonnie Liston Smith, acoustic & electric piano
MC Solaar, vocals
Gary Barnacle, saxophone, flute
Zachary Breaux, guitar
DC Lee, vocals
Simon Law, keyboards
Selections:
Side A:
1. Introduction
2. Loungin'
3. When You're Near
4. Transit Ride
5. No Time To Play
6. Down The Backstreets
Side B:
1. Respectful Dedications
2. Take A Look (At Yourself)
3. Trust Me
4. Slicker Than Most
5. Le Bien, Le Mal
6. Sights In The City
