|
 |
|
Jamiroquai's ten year odyssey through
the galaxy of funk has generated some spectacular
statistics. The four albums released since Jay Kay's
1992 emergence from London's acid jazz underworld
have sold 16 million copies. The last two albums
alone, 1996's 'Travelling Without Moving' and 1999's
'Synkronized', shifted over 11 million between them.
If front man Jay Kay was a little less self aware,
he'd be over the moon about all those skyscraping
figures:
"Success is when I see all those people
standing out there in front of me having a good
time, and knowing that you've got a great album on
your hands that you enjoy as much as they do,"
says Jay. "What's important about selling 16
million albums is it's right across the world. It's
not just the UK, there's a whole world of people out
there."
On the eve of a fifth album, 'A funk odyssey', Jay
has good cause to feel proud of the democratic reach
of his music. There was no masterplan when he
inveigled his way into a studio to record the song
that rocketed him and his buffalo hat into orbit.
The first single for Acid Jazz, 1992's 'When You
Gonna Learn?' was the the instinctive expression of
a London kid high on funk, soul, R'n'B, jazz and
disco. Nearly a decade later however, it'd be
reasonable if Kay felt vindicated. The one time
'skinny white skate kid' from west London has taken
a lot of flak for getting on down his way, yet as
trends have disintegrated and prejudices faded,
contemporary music has come to 'synkronize' with
Jamiroquai's groove more than ever before.
Continue |
|
|
|
