Well ... they both loved Stevie and they are both musicians .... what more is there to say?!

namepeace said:

Some of these people should broaden the horizon a bit more.

I can see you also like Jazzanova and some other stuff. Cool but those purists wouldn't like it because these guys use new technology etc.

Who cares, times move on and so does the music and the artists.

MrSquiggle said:

Are you saying Prince is influenced by Jay Kay? If that's what your saying you have no idea what you are talking about. Dorpthy Parker & Do U Lie were written before J.K. was even a thought in the music business.

PaisleyPark said:

I don't disagree. I think Jazzanova has every right to be called "jazz" as some of the "smooth jazz" or fusion that is classified as "jazz." J-quai might not be Parliament, but they can make some funky grooves.

Or, at least, could at one point in time

mrdespues said:

And with good reason too!! Jamiroquai influencing Prince...

namepeace said:[quote]Y'all are too hard on Jamiroquai. They've had 2 really, really good albums (Emergency on Planet Earth and Return of the Space Cowboy), and three albums with some good tracks but not as impressive on the whole (Travelling Without Moving, Synkronized, and A Funk Odyssey). They're not a funk band. They're more disco/r&B than pure soul, but they're good in their own right.

So what if they sound like Stevie Wonder or EWF or other bands? I don't elevate them to that level, so it doesn't matter to me. Their music is listenable, and Jay Kay can write some good songs.

If neither Prince nor Jamiroquai acknowledge each other, so be it. But Jamiroquai is one of my favorite bands of the last 10 years or so.

fave tracks include:

Too Young To Die
Blow Your Mind
Return of the Space Cowboy
Stillness In Time
Manifest Destiny
Light Years
Morning Glory
Alright
Do You Know Where You're Coming From
Butterfly
Picture of My Life

That's why I'm talking about! You knows what's up about Jamiroquai! Jamiroquai, believe it or not, wasn't just about Jay K. It was the band itself and that band has one of the baddest bass players next to Louis Johnson and Paul Jackson (seriously!). His name is Stuart Zendor and he has contributed more to the writing process than what Jay K was willing to give him, that's when dude bounced and Jay K's thing took a nose dive! Think about it. Forget about the videos and the image, (end even Jay K's singing) and listen to the music and what the band was doing. Jay K's voice had more melody on the first 3 albums and then albums afterwards only a had few memorable gems (Butterfly, Picture Of My Life, maybe a few others). Jay K has his melodic moments over certain grooves (Too Young To Die, Blow Your Mind, Hooked Up, Mr. Moon, Do You Know Where You're coming from) that sets him apart. If he had more of that kind of stuff mixed up with the rockish stuff (Whatever It Is I Just Can't Stop, The Kids) and strip the disco sounding stuff into some pretty house and broken beat sounding stuff (see Hooked Up, Mr. Moon, Traveling Without Moving,) then he would be straight and he could finally blow up, in Amercia. For all those who have hate ("hate" as in "haterism/not feeling yo' vibe" instead of actual "I hate you!") for this cat, dig deeper. He got some shit I'm not feeling as well, but he has a whole lot more shit that's got potential. And since we're on the subject of Prince and JK influences, peep Jay K closely.....there's a Prince influence that people have no clue about it, but I've seen it. In his stage show and in his look. There's a certain period in his career where he temporaily dumped the scruffy skater punk look for a more cosmo appeal. He did it in the "Alright" video and during the performance he did with Diana Ross doing "Upside Down" when he was rockon' the velvet suit with matching hat. Plus his dancing on that performance definetly gave it away. Trust me, that dude knows what's up. peace

jrodndigo said:

Yeah, the ROTSC video caught my eye, but I bought ROTSC and fell in love with it. It is probably one of my most played albums. I am familiar with Zender's influence, and the sound is unmistakably better in the Zender era.



Agreed.



I actually dig Mr. Moon a lot, but yeah, the house/DJ crowd in the UK loves J-quai, and there are oodles of remixes floating around.



I agree with you that there's more to the J than meets the ear, mainly because a lot of folk 1) hate on Jay K as a Stevie Wonder wannabe, and 2) most Americans are unfamiliar with the 1st two albums as a whole. I don't hear the Prince influence as much, but you are better informed than I.

Good post!