Jazzy Jeff

Liverpool Disco Festival 2017 Preview

By Tareck Ghoneim in Music / Festivals on 02 May 2017

Liverpool Disco Festival will take place on May 6th at Liverpool's Baltic Triangle.

Could you possibly believe it's already May! The seasons are changing and the year is flying by, so maybe it's best to stop for a moment and check your diary before it's all over! Fortunately there are passionate musicians and lovers of music who have connected for years and still maintain a place of community, to celebrate music and dance. Liverpool Disco Festival sees the creators of Southport Weekender and Suncebeat, joining forces with Hustle in Liverpool to create a truly unique date in the festival calendar. As you'd expect from either of these organisations, their first event in October '16 was a success and received rave reviews and now event #2 is set to take place May 6th at Baltic Triangle in Liverpool.

Liverpool Disco Festival 2017

Undoubtedly it's gonna sound good and the line-up will be heavy! In fact it's quite an astonishing looking event this weekend celebrating 30 years of Southport Weekender.

Continue reading: Liverpool Disco Festival 2017 Preview

Jazzy Jeff 2016 - Interview

An interview with Jazzy Jeff at Suncebeat 2016

Headlining the main stage at Suncebeat 7 in Croatia was the magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff! Having played many great sets at Southport Weekender, this was a great draw for the Suncebeat crowd. His work in the music industry is first class, having produced great artists such as Jill Scott, The Roots, Floetry and Musiq Soulchild. His pioneering contribution to DJing is significant and meeting this Grammy Award winner was a real honour. Contactmusic spoke to Jazz before his set that night.

What's your inspiration right now?
I'm getting a lot of inspiration from the youth. I'm not really one of those people set a certain way. Anytime I hear any kind of sound that is different, that makes me react, I'm drawn to it and I want to investigate it. I want to find out what's going on! I think it's a really good time in music as there's a lot of people being very experimental willing to try new things and it's kinda helping the culture expand. I feel it's not as super controlled by the industry as it was, now it's a guy in a bedroom coming up with something, sometimes accidentally, can change the music landscape, so I'm excited.

Is there anyone that comes to mind that you can share with us?
There's way too many! I mean it's really confusing for me as I listen to so much and so many different styles of music. I really like Anderson Paak who's like no other to me at the moment. It's funny 'cause I was talking to Louie Vega today and a lot of young guys are borrowing stuff that we did in the past and it makes a great connection between them and you. As much as we can show them where the origin came from, they give us a lot of courage and wisdom to jump onboard to what's going on today.
And sometimes unfortunately a lot of time we aren't around to see that, but we are now. Chatting to Louie, we commented how we just watched this turn completely around and you're still at the forefront of it and it's great!

Continue reading: Jazzy Jeff 2016 - Interview

Suncebeat 2016 - Preview

By Tareck Ghoneim in Music / Festivals on 17 June 2016

SUNceBEAT Southport Weekender Jazzy Jeff Louie Vega Joey Negro

Well here we are again, at the start of the summer and festival season is upon us once again! 2016 has been a crazy year, full of change, instability and uncertainty.

It's great to see festivals in Croatia becoming increasingly popular, and rightly so too, it's such a beautiful place, perfect for a holiday experience. With so much choice it's great to see SUNceBEAT 7 on the line up, that absolutely stands out as an amazing festival this year! This year's event takes place from 20th to 27th July and for anyone with a love of house music, hip hop, jazz fusion and/or soul should partake in this year's event! With a legendary line up in the stunning location of Tisno, it's looking like a certain winner this summer.

SunceBeat 7 Logo

Suncebeat was created seven years ago from the creators of Southport Weekender. Croatia seemed like the perfect place for the Southport Weekender family to relocate. The truth is it was rare to get a full weekend of sunshine at SPW, everyone wished for it, but the timing of the event in the UK, rarely delivered on that hope, however it's a very different story at Suncebeat!

Continue reading: Suncebeat 2016 - Preview

Will Smith Confirms Return To Music, Plans To Tour With Jazzy Jeff This Summer

By Stephanie Chase in Music / Festivals on 30 January 2016

Will Smith Jazzy Jeff

Will Smith is making a musical comeback, over 10 years after he released his last album.

It’s been nearly 30 years since DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince first starting making music together, but Will Smith has revealed he plans to tour again with his former musical partner. Smith, who hasn't released any music in over 10 years, has been back at work in the studio and plans on hitting the UK this summer with Jazzy Jeff.

Will Smith is making a musical comeback with DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Speaking on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, Smith said: “I’ve been working on something and this. We’ve recorded about 25 songs and have four or five I actually like. Jeff and I will be back here (in the U.K.), this summer to do shows – real shows.”

Continue reading: Will Smith Confirms Return To Music, Plans To Tour With Jazzy Jeff This Summer

Will Smith Planning New Album And World Tour

By Ed Biggs in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 07 October 2015

Will Smith Jazzy Jeff

Set for release next year, the new record will be Smith's first in 11 years, and he's also likely to bring DJ Jazzy Jeff on tour with him.

The whole world seems to have been in love with the ‘90s in the recent past, and nostalgia lovers are about to get a new treat. Will Smith is planning to revive his musical career, with a new album and a world tour planned for 2016 alongside his old comrade DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Smith became an international superstar in the late ‘90s with his radio-friendly brand of rap, but has mainly concentrated on his big screen career since his popularity as a musician started to dwindle in the new millennium. However, in a new interview with Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 radio show, the 47 year old says he’s keen to get back out on the road and give the world some new music.

Will Smith is due to reignite his rap career, with a new album and world tour in 2016

Continue reading: Will Smith Planning New Album And World Tour

Southport Weekender 50th - 9th - 11th May 2014, UK Live Review

By Tareck Ghoneim in Music Reviews on 20 May 2014

Southport 50th was always going to be special. Every year Southport Weekender comes around again and with so many mind blowing gigs and sets we've seen throughout its history, it would be fair to assume Alex, Dave and the rest of the Southport Weekender family couldn't top it off again, but my gosh they did! It was an epic weekender.

The history of Southport Weekender has been inspirational to many lovers of soul and unity. That's why so many American artists, who have influenced dance music, always return back to get a slice of this unique melting pot. David Morales, Derrick Carter, Kerri Chandler, Kenny Dope, Jazzy Jeff, as well as legendary UK pioneers such as Carl Cox, David Rodigan, Trevor Nelson, Giles Peterson, Norman Jay and Mr Scruff were all in the house. Amazing live acts such as Faith Evans, Omar, Marcos Valle and Snarky Puppy added to the magic of what was a fantastic weekend.

Arriving on Friday, it was hard not to get swept away with the excitement but with the After Parties and so much to see, it was best not to burn out too soon. Brand New Heavies in The Connoisseur's Corner was a perfect way to start the weekender. They always know how to win the Southport Weekender crowd with their great display of funk musicianship immediately getting the dance floor moving. With Suncebeat and now two more events this year - one at Camelot and a special nostalgia gig back at the original Pontins in Southport - there were plenty more opportunities to experience the good vibrations of the festival. There's no doubt anyone who's been to Suncebeat knows how good that event is, and that I'm sure will be even more prolific this year due to the tragic death of Frankie Knuckles, who was going to headline Suncebeat this year.

Continue reading: Southport Weekender 50th - 9th - 11th May 2014, UK Live Review

Video - Bruce Willis, Stephen Baldwin And DJ Jazzy Jeff Among Star-Studded 'After Earth' Premiere - Part 2

'Die Hard' star Bruce Willis, 'The Usual Suspects' actor Stephen Baldwin and Will Smith's former musical collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff made their appearances on the red carpet at the Ziegfeld Theatre for the New York premiere of 'After Earth'.

Continue: Video - Bruce Willis, Stephen Baldwin And DJ Jazzy Jeff Among Star-Studded 'After Earth' Premiere - Part 2

Jazzy Jeff and Lynette Jackson - New York premiere of 'After Earth' held at the Ziegfeld Theatre - New York City, NY, United States - Thursday 30th May 2013

DJ Jazzy Jeff - New York premiere of 'After Earth' held at the Ziegfeld Theatre - New York City, NY, United States - Wednesday 29th May 2013

Graham Norton Busts A Move In Mini Fresh Prince Revival With Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff And Alfonso Ribeiro

By Victoria Pavlova in Movies / TV / Theatre on 26 May 2013

Will Smith Graham Norton Jazzy Jeff Alfonso Ribeiro

The whole thing mostly served to remind everyone how much they miss The Fresh Prince.

The Graham Norton show brought on an unexpected Fresh Prince of Bel Air reunion this week, as Will Smith performed with his son Jaden and even DJ Jazzy Jeff paid a surprise visit. The whole thing came about as Jaden got up to prove he had inherited his dad’s rapping prowess in a freestyle, as Smith Sr. beatboxed. Jaden got an enthusiastic ovation from the audience, before his dad took over for a verse. And that’s where it got intense, as Will rapped: "Last time I was here, I did my 'Fresh Prince' rap / Eight million YouTube hits was on that / I can see your face, you like, 'What has he left?' / Well, this time I brought my DJ Jazzy Jeff!"

Cue camera pan to Dj Jazzy Jeff and the start of the most intense Fresh Prince medley television has seen yet. But it was when Smith brought on the final surprise of the night – Alfonso Ribeiro, aka Carlton himself – that things really kicked off. You have not watched television, until you’ve seen Graham Norton bust a move alongside Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro, in our humble opinion. Luckily, you can just scroll down to the clip, courtesy of the BBC, and feast your eyes.

Continue reading: Graham Norton Busts A Move In Mini Fresh Prince Revival With Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff And Alfonso Ribeiro