{{{Personal jam session
By A. TACUMA ROEBACK
Staff Writer

True story:
Some years ago, multi-platinum producer extraordinaire Jimmy Jam was an invited panelist at a Los Angeles music conference and seminar, which was geared primarily toward high school students.

There was a young man who kept nagging him, asking questions about everything from demo tapes to Janet Jackson, the iconic pop star who got her start with Jam.}}}

''This kid was grilling me,'' he said, in a phone interview from his Flyte Time recording studios in Minneapolis.

He encountered that very same kid a few years later. We'll tell you that tale in a bit.

But Nashvillians will have a chance to learn some of the stuff that kid did tomorrow night, when Jam comes to Nashville for a seminar dubbed Up Close & Personal with Jimmy Jam.

During that program, he'll share some insights from his impressive 20-plus years in the music industry. And he may even talk about that pesky teen-ager.

''It's an opportunity that will truly last a lifetime,'' said Nancy Shapiro, the Recording Academy vice president for the South Region, the sponsoring organization. ''Not only because of the information he'll impart, but the inspiration he can provide,'' she said.

If Jam could elicit one impression, it would perhaps be awe. To thrive in the volatile, highly politicized beast that is the music industry, one has to know a few things. Yet the man responsible for some of pop music's most memorable hits seems awed by his own success.

''We've been so blessed over the years,'' he said.

He and music partner Terry Lewis played in a band for Prince back in 1981.

They eventually were dismissed from the band after missing a flight due to their production work with the S.O.S. Band, an early '80s R&B outfit.

That moment, however, was the genesis of their songwriting, production and publishing empire.

Then in 1986, the duo began working with Jackson on her album Control. Together, Jam, Lewis and Jackson created an album that left an indelible imprint on '80s pop-culture. They went on to produce 16 No. 1 pop hits for artists ranging from '80s synth-poppers Human League to current R&B superstar Usher.

Much may have changed since the early '80s: Beta machines evolved into DVD players, economy cars into Sport Utility Vehicles.

But Jam has always been Jam, though he sees a difference.

''I'm a much better songwriter,'' he said. ''I know I'm a better producer, but I'm a weaker musician.''

But look deeper into why they've lasted so long, and you'd discover that Jam and Lewis have been able to seize both economic and creative control over their careers. They not only write and produce their music, they own record labels, a recording studio and a publishing company.

Yet if you ask Jam about the keys to music industry success, he speaks of simpler virtues like patience, perseverance and preparation.

That was perhaps what a young man gleaned from Jam and others during a music industry seminar in Los Angeles.

He asked Jam so many questions that he walked the producer over to another seminar.

Four years later, Jam saw that same kid become a pop sensation in his own right.

''He went from sitting in on the audience,'' remembers Jam, ''to being onstage.''

That kid was R&B crooner and actor Tyrese, who is best known for his starring role in the 2001 movie Baby Boy and the song Sweet Lady.

The story illustrates that the gulf between aspiration and success isn't as great as it seems.

Married with three children and surrounded by platinum plaques, Jam grasps at the lost time that eludes even the best of us. Yet he clearly remembers the one thing that drove him throughout his career: love.

''I never wanted to be famous,'' he said. ''I just wanted to do music.''

Getting there

Up Close & Personal with Jimmy Jam starts at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel and is being sponsored by the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy. Reservations to attend the event are $15 for Recording Academy members and $25 for non-members. Please contact the Nashville Chapter at 327-8030 for more information or to obtain a reservation.

A. Tacuma Roebuck is a features writer at The Tennessean.

http://www.tennessean.com...D=16249337

hmmm????wonder why tyreese dont got the funk since he's been seeking it ????? things that make u go....hmmmmm...r&b 2002 sure SUCKS !!!!!

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