Jamiroquai

Jamiroquai are a British acid jazz band formed in 1992.Fronted by lead singer Jay Kay, Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Subsequent albums have explored other musical directions such as pop, rock and electronica. Their best known track is "Virtual Insanity", which won four awards at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. Jamiroquai have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1998.


The band name is a mix of "jam session" and "iroquai", based on the Iroquois, a Native American tribe. The original band was Jay Kay (vocals), Toby Smith (keyboard), Stuart Zender (bass), Nick Van Gelder (drums), Wallis Buchanan (didgeridoo) and Alec Moran (pipeau). These are the founding members of Jamiroquai and were involved in the writing and production of the first album. The lineup of the band has changed several times, and the longest serving and now core members of the band are lead singer and songwriter Jason "Jay" Kay, percussionist Sola Akingbola (since 1994), and drummer Derrick McKenzie (since 1994). Kay was the impetus behind the formation of Jamiroquai, deciding to form the band after an unsuccessful audition to become the singer of the Brand New Heavies. Although he has said that he has attempted to have Jamiroquai treated as a band, Kay has always been at the forefront.

In 1998, Jamiroquai released "Deeper Underground", the first single from their fourth studio album, Synkronized, which also appeared in the soundtrack for the 1998 movie Godzilla. The acid jazz flavours and ethnic influences of the first three albums continued with the release of Synkronized, and Jay Kay's interest in funk and disco music were shifting the band's directions towards such. By their fifth album, A Funk Odyssey (2001), they had evolved so drastically, that some critics and listeners would remark they lost the 'Jamiroquai sound'. With the departure of more and more original band members, including Wallis Buchanan and his didgeridoo, Jamiroquai had become a very different band from that of 1992. In spite of the changes, the fifth album's first single, "Little L", reached #1 in many charts worldwide becoming their best dance hit.

Jamiroquai released a greatest hits collection, High Times: Singles 1992-2006 in November 2006. The release of this album marked the end of Kay’s eight-album contract with Sony. The album reached the number 1 spot in the UK album chart after its first week of release. The album featured two new tracks, "Runaway" and "Radio". On 18 September 2006, "Runaway" was given its first play by UK radio stations. It was released as a single on 30 October 2006. Kay remarked that compilation was released purely out of contractual obligation: "2006, they're out of the picture.

After leaving Sony, the band began to work on their seventh project, and several collaborations and side-projects. In a very short mid-2007 interview with Jamirotalk, drummer Derick McKenzie expressed his satisfaction with leaving Sony as the beginning of a period in which the band will have more creative control over their own work, together with plenty of room for experimentation and lack of pressure from a record company.


On 21 August 2012, Sony Music Japan announced, for the 20th Anniversary of Jamiroquai in 2013, they would release 'reissues' of their 1st 3 studio album efforts, 1993's 'Emergency On Planet Earth', 1994's 'Return Of The Space Cowboy' & 1996's 'Travelling Without Moving'. These 'reissues' would feature complete 'remasterings' of each album and have a bonus CD with all the 'B-Side material, live material & rarities' of each album era of the band. The street date for these reissues, only in Japan, was listed for 23 October 2012. But the street dates came and went and online boutiques listed these reissues on 'backorder', basically meaning they were abandoned and weren't coming out.


Members

Current members

Jay Kay – lead vocals (1992–present)
Derrick McKenzie – drums (1994–present)
Sola Akingbola – percussion (1994–present)
Rob Harris – guitar (2000–present)
Matt Johnson – keyboards (2002–present)
Paul Turner – bass (2005–present)
James Russell – saxophone & flute (2010–present)
Jim Corry – saxophone (2010–present)
Malcolm Strachan – trumpet (2010–present)


Former members
Toby Smith – keyboards (1992–2002)
Wallis Buchanan – didgeridoo (1992–1999)
Stuart Zender – bass (1992–1998)
Nick Van Gelder – drums (1992–1993)
DJ D-Zire – wheels of steel (1992–2001)
Gavin Dodds – guitar (1992–1994)
Maurizio Ravalico – percussion (1992–1994)
Nick Tydman – bass (1992)
Simon Bartholomew – guitar (1992)
Mike Smith – saxophone (1993–1994, 1999–2000)
Glenn Nightingale - guitar (1993)
Adrian Revell – saxophone & flute (1995–1997)
Winston Rollins – trombone & trumpet (1994–1997)
Martin Shaw – trumpet & flugelhorn (1995–2000)
Simon Katz – guitar (1995–2000)
Nick Fyffe – bass (1999–2003)
Simon Carter – keyboards (1999–2002)
Richard Murphy - bass (2005)


Discography

Main article: Jamiroquai discography
Studio albums
1993 Emergency on Planet Earth
1994 The Return of the Space Cowboy
1996 Travelling Without Moving
1999 Synkronized
2001 A Funk Odyssey
2005 Dynamite
2010 Rock Dust Light Star
2013/2014 Untitled 8th studio album