Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1

Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality By the time Gang Starr's rapper Guru created the "experimental fusion of hip-hop and jazz" he called Jazzmatazz back in 1993, the idea of blending the two African-American styles had been fairly well explored. But as the first wholly self-conscious genremixing, Jazzmatazz Volume ...	Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul The third installment of Guru's celebrated Jazzmatazz series is all about soul. With names like Erykah Badu, Macy Gray, Amel Larrieux, and Les Nubians on board this time around, Streetsoul is a perfect, breezy soundtrack for all seasons. Lyrically, Guru departs from the streetwis...	Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) Digable Planets deliberately disavowed the toughness of hip-hop culture: the trio's leader called himself Butterfly, his foil Ladybug purred like Eartha Kitt, and they produced hooks out of lines like "We're just babies, man." Despite occasional flashes of sorrow (like the pro-ch...	Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr A massive double disc packed with 33 tracks--a few new cuts, many old faves, and some rare B-sides--Full Clip presents a decent overview of the group's impressive 10-year sonic canon. Gang Starr standards spanning the likes of "Manifest" (from their 1989 debut, No More Mr. Nice G...	Blowout Comb In 1993, the Digable Planets, a trio of New York MCs with happy insect monikers (Doodlebug, Butterfly, and Ladybug) and nonthreatening auras, created manna for the pseudo-beatnik crowd. On Reachin': A New Refutation of Time and Space they melded jazz records, hip-hop beats, and r...
Step in the Arena Gang Starr's second album is quintessential hip-hop and is easily one of the greatest rap albums of all time. In contrast to their 1989 debut, No More Mr. Nice Guy, which was filled with seriously uptempo jams, Step in the Arena slows down the pace, unveiling low, slow, and decep...	Moment of Truth	Hard to Earn On "ALONGWAYTOGO," the second track from Gang Starr's Hard to Earn, rapper Guru draws a line in the sand between the "counterfeit" and the "legit" and challenges the listener, "If you don't know what you're doing, how the hell can you be real?" He goes on to explain that being "r...	Daily Operation On their third outing, Guru and Premier continue to deliver intellectual hardcore, mixing deft rhymes with serious beatology. Premier continues to mine the jazz vaults, uncovering some seriously dusty grooves, with which he concocts some of the best minimalist hip-hop to ever be ...	Illmatic Nasir Jones made this debut album at the age of 20, already armed with the calm perceptiveness and been-there-done-that attitude of a much older ghetto vet, though sometimes his inner callow youth shows itself. Illmatic is a look back at a life spent in the culture of the project...

Jazzmatazz is Great
I have jazzmatazz one two and three. they are all great. In my view this is what hiphop should be all about. Trying to create high art that lives up to the legacy of greatness of those who came before. The mixture of Bebop and Hiphop is a win win combination. The entire jazzmatazz series will become a long living classic to be coveted by fans of good music well into the future.

Bald Head Slick!
Any hardcore fan of Gang Starr should consider this essential. If not, then any fan of laid back hip hop will find this a nice find. Sure it isn't Premo but Guru definitely keeps the Gang Starr attitude kickin' on this smooth release. Just beware, this is certainly an album relegated for the bedroom or living room with a little cheeba use and not in your fly whip. It's very laid back but then again so was Gang Starr, right? If your favorite Gang Starr song is Discipline or Moment of Truth then you're good to go.

Great album
A mix of hip-hop vocals and jazzy instrumentals combine to form a beautiful album.

Jazz + Rap = Jazzmatazz (3.5 Stars)
Guru decided to create an experimental hip-hop album with a mix of jazz to create Jazzmatazz Vol. 1. To me I thought it was going to be one of many rap with jazzy production albums that came out in the early 90's, but this was different.Instead this time, he picked up some jazz musicians and singers. The guests include" Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Ronny Jordan, N'Dea Davenport, Carleen Anderson, Courtney Pine, Lonnie Liston, and french known rapper MC Solar, amd many more. Most of the tracks Guru rhymes while the jazz musicians play and sing, which mostly comes out well for the most part. His monotone voice sometimes blend in with the musical vibes on many storytelling vibe tracks like "Down The Backstreets" and the loud alto saxophone produced "Transit Ride". Another nice track is "No Time To Play" with DC Lee singing and Ronny Jordan on the guitars. Production wise is outstandig because it is somewhat live instruments, but not how you'll expect on something like any early Roots' albums or such. Some tracks I disliked though toward the end of the abum. "Slicker Than Most" and "Le Bien, Le Mal" didn't appeal to me, probably because they changed the mood of the album, and it seemed to be more rapping than jazz making it unbalanced. Lyrically Guru comes off decent on some tracks, which isn't a big deal to many listeners becuase they're not paying attention to that. Other than that it is a very enjoyable album that suffers some flaws. If you like Hip Hop and Jazz, or if you have a taste for experemental music, I recommend this one to you. Favorite Tracks: Loungin', Transit Ride, No Time To Play, Down The Backstreets, Trust Me, Sights In The City.

Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
Guru (AKA Keith Elam,), Gang Starr's MC delivered his first in a series of Hip Hop Jazz related releases with "Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1" (1993). I respect Guru's willingness and drive to provide "An experimental fusion of Jazz and Hip Hop" (as stated on cd). Guru's name is short for "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal". This twelve-track release (including intro and interlude) is an early notable Rap/Jazz collaboration album. Guru gets things started rhyming on the smooth "Loungin", while Donald Byrd plays the trumpet and piano. Guru collabs with female singer N'Dea Davenport on the semi-decent "When Your Near", and then takes his audience on a "Transit Ride", highlight of this cut for me is Branford Marsalis on the Sax. The chorus and rhymes to "No Time To Play" is a bit to repetitive for my liking. Guru with help from Lonnie Liston Smith on the electric piano provides a standout with "Down The Backstreets", Smith's piano play is outstanding, and Guru's rhymes are grimy. With help from Roy Ayers, Guru then drops "Take A Look" (At Yourself), a track which has Guru kicking knowledge, advising his audience to be accountable, and make moves rather then wait for them to happen. N'Dea Davenport returns for another half decent collaboration with Guru on "Trust Me". Guru reps himself on "Slicker then Most" then collabs with French MC Solaar for "La Bien, Le Mal". The album's closer and longest track is "Sights In The City", backed by a soprano sax and flute Guru drops some on point ghetto stories. I agree with reviewer Ziontrain about Guru not yet displaying the lyrical talent (with a few exceptions) that would be found on the Gang Starr albums. Guru for me will always be best remembered for his work with Premo. Bottom line though I have to admit it is hard for me to have the same reverence for "Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1" as Jazz/Rap collaboration enthusiasts. I recommend checking out this release if you enjoy experimental albums.