The story of the band Jamiroquai - from the early years to the dazzling breakthrough...
Содержание
Jamiroquai is a jazz-funk band from London, formed in 1992 by vocalist Jay Kay. This band occupied an important place in the London funk-jazz party of the 90s: Jamiroquai's work has a unique sound, based on black music and bold lyrics... In later time the band experimented a lot, because of what their later releases contain characteristic shades of rock, disco and even Latin-American music... In general - the world circulation of their albums is about 30 million copies! Yes, Jamiroquai discography (as well as their song repertoire) includes a lot of really masterpiece things... But where did it all begin? That's what we'll talk about today...
The beginning of the journey...
The founder of the band, Jay Kay, has always had a passion for music... In the 80's he was recording his first tracks: Kay was heavily influenced by American Indians and their philosophy... It all started when Kay was recording the song When You Gonna Learn: he had an argument with a producer who removed a decent portion of the lyrics because it didn't sound like a "classic chart hit"... This situation made Jay Kay think that to be successful he needed his own team of musicians with a live sound... Later Kay signed a contract with Acid Jazz Records. Gradually he recruited the members of what would soon be called Jamiroquai....
Jamiroquai started their rise by performing in clubs. Later "When You Gonna Learn" was released - their debut single, which entered the national top 50! So, within a few years, Jamiroquai had accumulated a stream of hits in their native UK and achieved chart success in almost every other region of the world! Their irresistible blend of house rhythms and 70's soul/funk delighted both the public and the critics... And despite the fact that the band underwent several line-up changes during their career, throughout all this time their leader remained JK: in fact, it would be inexcusable not to tell more about him!
JK (aka JK) is a British singer and songwriter, founder and lead singer of Jamiroquai. Kay was born on 30 December 1969 in Stretford, Manchester. His mother, Karen, was a jazz singer who performed regularly in nightclubs and in the 70s hosted her own TV show! Jay left home at the age of 15: he was then essentially homeless and in trouble with the law (he had to commit petty crime to survive). After a near-death experience (where he was attacked and stabbed) he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Kay then decided to return home, where he decided to continue to develop a legitimate music career and finally quit crime. Kay didn't have a band to support him, but he quickly thought up the name of his future project: Jamiroquai. And you already know the further story!
The main stages of creativity...
It all started with the single "When You Gonna Learn?": it was Jamiroquai's debut single, released by the Acid Jazz record company. Soon the track became a big success, followed by a long-term and lucrative contract with Sony. So, in 1993 Jamiroquai released Emergency on Planet Earth - their full-length debut, which became a major hit in their native England (reaching the number one position in the charts)! The album spawned such hit tracks as "Too Young to Die" and "Blow Your Mind" (both in the top ten!).
The second release, 1995's The Return of the Space Cowboy, managed to save Jamiroquai from the so-called "sophomore curse" that so many up-and-coming bands suffer from: it surpassed the sales of its predecessor in Europe and became a big hit in Japan!
By 1996 most of the world was already dancing to the rhythms of Jamiroquai... And now, the third album Traveling Without Moving, released this year, has conquered America! The album also spawned the worldwide hit "Virtual Insanity", for which an award-winning music video was made (it was largely responsible for helping the album reach platinum status in the States by the end of the year).
But despite the breakthrough success, bassist Zender decides to leave the band right during the sessions... Nick Fyffe takes his place. By the way: at this time Kay gave up new tracks to start from scratch with a new bassist... However - already in 1998 "Deeper Underground" was released, a track from the soundtrack of the cult film "Godzilla".
The long pause between albums seemed to kill Jamiroquai's momentum in the US, which had weakened noticeably over the years: their new album Synkronised was largely ignored by American listeners (although it was another major commercial success in their home country and around the world!) Subsequently, it seemed that much of the US media attention regarding Jamiroquai was centred on non-music related events: such as the band's refusal of a million dollar offer to play a concert on New Year's Eve 1999, and when Kay was accused of assaulting a tabloid photographer (the charges were later dropped)...
It didn't take Jamiroquai long to release another album: A Funk Odyssey was released two years later, in 2001. After that, the band spent the next two years gathering material for their sixth studio album Dynamite, which was finally released in 2005! As for the seventh studio Rock Dust Light Star, it dutifully combined the disco and electronic music of the previous release with the organic, roots-based intonation of their 1993 debut release...
In 2013 Jamiroquai celebrated their 20th anniversary by re-releasing remastered versions of their first three albums. Around the same time, they announced that they had started work on a new album and played a few short European tours. In 2017, they returned with their eighth Automaton, which included the singles "Automaton" and "Cloud 9".
Produced by Kay along with keyboardist Matt Johnson, the album saw the band explore themes of advancing technology and deteriorating human interaction, albeit with all the electro-funk trappings that Jamiroquai is so well known for...
Musical style, influences, legacy,...
As for the musical style of Jamiroquai, it unites house, soul, disco, funk, Eisted Jazz and even R&B! Their unique sound is the result of bold experiments, which allow the band to be open to everything new... In the creativity of this band the atmosphere of 70's prevails, which makes their music unusually tender and magical... We can say - that they united old school funk, soul Philadelphia strings, clear sound of 70's keyboards and even hints of jazz fusion... The main author of tracks from the very beginning remains JK. By the way: some critics claim the band is blatantly copying the style of black artists. But Kay has his own opinion about it:
"We're now talking about the style of music that inspires us, but not the exact sound... You can copy Barry White, but you'll never get what he manages to do..."
Speaking about the lyrics of the songs, it's worth noting that Kay always tends to touch upon some global issue... For example - in the debut Emergency on Planet Earth it's ecology and war, in The Return of the Space Cowboy it's homelessness and protests, and in Travelling Without Moving it's the development of technology to the point that mankind will soon be able to reproduce life and simulate it....
The band also has a vivid visual style, which many critics describe as "sci-fi and futuristic". When to expect new studio works from Jamiroquai? Everything depends only on Kay's inspiration... In one of his interviews the musician stated:
"The album will only come out when I'm inspired to do so..."
