future jazz

When ambitious young record store manager Oli Lazarus initiated his Reel People project back in 2000 he could only have dreamt of where those first tentative steps would lead him. Having immersed himself in the soulful house sounds of specialist record store Flying for the previous three years, Oli Lazurus had begun to feel that the musical education he had gained in-store was complete and that his tenure atthe shop was drawing to a natural end.

Musician and composer Jimi Tenor has never settled for the traditional role of a pop artist. He is known as a productive musician whose work lies beyond current trends, and also as a performer who combines the finest elements of afro-american music, spontaneous silliness and shameless glamour in an original way. Besides being a professional musician for almost 20 years, Jimi Tenor (born Lassi Lehto, 1965, Lahti, Finland) has also practised photography, directed short films and designed clothes and musical instruments.

Read more about Jimi Tenor on Last.fm.

1984 on Halloween night and a 4 year-old Kurtis is ready to put on his Go-Bots costume. After exiting the McDonalds drive-in in his father’s Blue Chevet, happy meal in hand, his father turns to him with a grin, “Hey Kurtis, I have something you’re gonna love.” He pops a cassette into the tape player. As Kurtis eyes the illustration and lettering on the cassette cover, his father shares the title of the album, “Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise”.

Thundercat is a pseudonym of Stephen Bruner, a member of legendary thrash punks Suicidal Tendencies (since 16 years of age), a protégé of Steven Ellison (aka Flying Lotus), virtuoso bassist, composer, producer and singer. Bruner has collaborated with many, including: a stint with German boy band No Curfew, jams with Snoop Dogg and Stanley Clarke. “I do believe that hip-hop can be the new jazz, and I’m helping create that”, Bruner said in an interview to Bass Player, in 2008.