The Magnificent, an interview with Jazzy Jeff...

Following the release of his first solo LP in 2002, the Magnificent on BBE records, Jazzy Jeff toured Europe in the summer of 2003 alongside the Philarmonics live band to promote a Philly Soul compilation released on his label, A Touch of Jazz. He stopped by London for two dates at the Jazz Cafe and we had the chance to catch him by phone the day before and quiz him on his recent work, ATOJ, his DJ work and his views on music, hip hop, tablism and more. Ladies and Gentlemen Dj Jazzy Jeff!

You can also check the interview archive for our follow up interview with Jeff, which was conducted in November 2004 during his apperance at the Perverts' Beatdown in London.

Can you tell us some more about the gigs you are doing with ATOJ's band?

JJ: Well basically it started about 8 years ago, I had a chance to go into a studio with a band as a DJ, and we kinda started playing together, I would just play like normal, when I am DJing and the band would pick up with me and play alongside of me, and then I can just cut and scratch and do what I want while the band is backing me up and then slide out, let the band take over and then pick back up again. And we started doing this and having parties, and that's pretty much where the birth of the Philly music scene came from. Because you had a chance to incorporate the DJ with the musicians in the city so everyone got a chance to know each other.

JJ: This one is going to be really interesting because we like to have jam sessions, we plan the jams but we don't rehearse it too much so as not to take the human element away. The human element is the most important element for an improv band. We just come up with the grooves and its funny because you come up with so many good records that way by just going in and doing something and then venturing off into your own. What is good this time is that I have 3 singers and 2 MCs, and it's kinda like a big show. Ok, Jeff is gonna mix and the band is gonna play but we just try to make it like one long piece of music.

How would define ATOJ's sound, the label and what you are trying to do with it?

JJ: More then anything it's just... I am in love with the way music used to feel, not so much sound, feel. You would have records that made you feel good, so what I am trying to do is catch a lot of the feel of old but kinda of the sound and punchyness of music today. Even down to slow records, you want to have some kind of feeling and sound that is good. It's almost like mixing old soul with Hip-Hop.

Is there anything else we can expect to come out of ATOJ this year, any new artists, albums?

JJ: I have just finished a new record, and its kinda of an interesting one, it's called ‘Soundtrack to the City'. It's kinda like throughout my journeys Djing around the world, it's amazing how music makes people feel. It started through music that I play a Notorious B.I.G record in South Africa, in south Philly and in south London and the world reacts to it the same way. It's really interesting how linked together we are through music. What it made me do, is it made me look and understand that there are problems like homelessness everywhere in the world, and we can try and do something about it in our own ways, and music can unite us and help us deal with it together. I mean together we can pretty much change the world. So this album is like a Marvin Gaye, ‘What's Going On', type record, with MCs and singers. I also have just finished Jill Scott's new album, I am doing some stuff with Will right now, and I am about to start doing some stuff with Earth, Wind and Fire as well. So it's all pretty diverse and it's kinda of like with all the people I am having the ability to work with, it's pretty much following a pattern of not sticking to one thing and living outside of the box. And no matter what type of music that I am doing, as long as I can make it feel good or put some kind of emotion into it, then I am happy. It's not so much about how many records you are going to sell, I don't want to have the best selling record I want to have everybody's favourite record.

You have had a long and successful career in music, and I was wondering if you have any feelings about the state of the current Hip-Hop scene, where it's going wrong and where it's going right?

JJ: You know, I am a very free spirited music lover, and one thing I don't do, is hate on music. For me to be this person that preaches so much about all different kinds of music and opening your mind, I'd be a hypocrite to say that there is stuff that shouldn't be played or shouldn't be out there. I believe everything should be out there. My biggest criticism of Hip-Hop, and music but predominantly Hip-Hop, right now isn't the stuff that they play, it's the stuff that they don't. I don't understand, especially in the US, that they play 25 records over and over and over, but yet I walk into a record store, and see close to 3 million records. I cannot believe that there are only 25 good ones, I believe that, especially in Hip-Hop, you should treat everybody as if they were important. I understand and I love incredibly the artistic freedom and the things that somebody like Jay-Z has done, but I also love the artistic freedom and things that people like J-Live and Slum Village have done. And I just think if you are going to play a Jay-Z record 10 times on the radio, maybe you should just play it twice and give the other 8 slots to people like J-Live, and other artists people don't get a chance to hear. Because at the end of the day the radio is the place where we get to determine if we like a sound or not. So why not give all the options and let us make our own assessment, instead of treating it like the Matrix and feeding us 25 records.

I know you have worked with Masters at Work on Nuyorican Soul and other projects and you have said you love all types of music, so I was wondering if you approach producing different genres differently or if it's all linked for you?

JJ: You know what, it's all one thing to me. Music is grey, it isn't black and white, music is grey. You know its amazing, it's like I said. A lot of the times I DJ, I play for myself, because if I do that I have a tendency to please more people than if I try to please every last one. There is nobody in the world that can do that. You know what I mean? I play and I approach music as this grey thing, there is no black and white. There is no separation to me, and this is just my opinion but it is the way I have always approached music, its like I don't like the categories of music. Sometimes I think it confuses people, you go to a music store, look up for that favourite record you heard, and you don't know if it's Hip-Hop, or Trip-Hop or whatever. And it's kinda like, "whoa! Why can't it just all be one section and all in alphabetical order?" I just like to approach music like that, when I pack my records, I pack them according to what I like and what I feel and not by music genre. Because I go into a Hip-hop club and do a set and go all the way through Hip-Hop, to old skool, to some breakbeats, some classics, and all the way round and end up in House and people are sitting there looking like "how the hell did I end up playing House, and I am jamming to House and I am in a Hip-Hop club!?" And it's the same thing when I am playing a House set, and I'll go through the classics, and into Hip-Hop and it's kinda like music is all intertwined. And I have just had such a good response from people when you give them a little bit of everything. I am somebody that knows that when I am in a Hip-Hop club, I am gonna play mostly Hip-Hop but I am also going to open your mind up to some other stuff. Maybe not for a long time, you know? Let you taste it a little bit to see if you like it.

It's so true, what makes it interesting today is the eclecticness of music. So there isn't one genre you like producing more then another?

JJ: Ummmm, not really, you know it's kinda hard because I can sit and say "oh man I love soul". Anything soulful, that I can use live with instruments I really enjoy that, but I enjoy sitting behind and pulling out my old SP-12 and just doing a beat like I did in 1988! You know what I mean? And you'd enjoy that just as much, and then you enjoy getting down, doing a dance record and kinda like let the equipment take control and do so many things... That's what I love about music because there are times I want to go back to the instruments and the original elements that were used and there are times when I wanna go to the futuristic elements, and use all the electronic stuff. And then there are times I want to mix them all together.

That's great. And now if we talk a bit more about turntablism, we were wondering if you have had any input into the DJ academies, like Scratch in NY, or if you plan to get involved and teach there and help?

JJ: Actually I am supposed to be doing something with Scratch in the semester coming up. I wanted to do it and especially you know I made the jump after JMJ's death, with him being a friend of mine. Anything that I can do to help out I am happy to do. Because Jay was someone that was really for the DJ community and I have always done stuff like that as well. I have actually just hosted the US DMC finals, last week. So I am very active within turntablism. Because to me it's amazing to see how something that I have done in the past has got all the way up there. I remember doing parties and kinda scratching and people were looking at you because no one had ever seen anybody scratch. To realise that you have somebody in SA and in Thailand, just doing routines and beat juggles and all kind of intricate scratch patterns, and that you had something to do with it, that's just amazing.

JJ: Oh my god, that's amazing!!! I still don't get that. It's just like everything that we have talked about before, all came from 2 turntables and a mixer. Every aspect that I have had into music has come from that, you know, my knowledge of a lot of old records came from me having 2 turntables and a mixer and cutting back to back, because I wanted to understand what it was that I was cutting. So everything goes back to turntablism, to me.

And do you find that your turntablist background affects your knowledge and what you do when you produce music?

JJ: Yeah I do, I have always been the turntablist that when I put scratches on my records, I always turn them down. And everybody used to laugh because it's common that a DJ wants his scratches louder then anything. And I was always the opposite, and now I just try to fuse everything together. Because I am someone that embraces technology, and I enjoy and appreciate people coming out with CD decks. Because it gives me the ability to integrate that into my set, but at the same time you will never catch me without my vinyls! So I am cool with all the new advances but I still respect the old ones to know that first and foremost it all comes back to vinyl. In that aspect I try to keep myself open because you can do some real creative stuff, and then especially with things like Final Scratch, I really love that stuff because you can use MP3s and CDs with vinyl and it changes the whole game plan. Now you can do some really intricate things with studio work and all this stuff and as a DJ that is incredible.

So do you use turntablist ethics in your production work?

JJ: Yes. Definitely, just the intricacies and the way things feel. You know what's funny, is that if I think about it I may actually do the reverse, I may use more of my production skills in my turntablism work. Because I am somebody that believes that the whole art of turntablism is rhythm. I am a drummer, and I am always trying to be really funky in everything that I do. It's almost like, I quantize a lot of my scratches, so that they can feel good, you know? Which goes back to the whole feeling good thing. I know enough about music to know that sometimes letting it flow a little bit behind the beat will make it feel and sound more funky. So I think that in reverse I am...(hesitates for a few seconds) the turntablist drum machine! Trying to make everything match and mesh together.

And what is your opinion of the scratch notation systems developed by A-Track, Radar and Carluccio? Do you agree that there should be a push to get the classical/mainstream music world to accept turntablism as a valid form of music?

JJ: I definitely think it could and it should be. Because you know for what you can do, it's almost like the turntable has to become accepted as an instrument that can play along with a band. And just like you write out bass charts, guitar charts and drum charts you should be able to write out turntable charts, because you have two sides of it. Just like I know bass players that are fantastic but can't read music and there are turntablists that can scratch and can't read music. DJ Radar and A-Track developed systems that can be used to read music, maybe these are our Mozarts!

Exactly, it gives turntablists a language to communicate.

JJ: Exactly, and also it gives an option for a person to use it or not.

And have you heard of Radar's work on the concerto for turntable?

JJ: No.

Based on his scratch notation system he has been working with another composer and they have written the first ever concerto where the turntable is the leading instrument with an orchestra.

JJ: Oh yeah!! That sounds good.

And i was just wondering if you had any thoughts on this?

JJ: I mean that would be incredible, I am a big fan of his as I have seen some of his routines and some of the things he does, and you can tell that he puts a very technical aspect on to his work. Like writing out charts that I can read, which is really dope. I have always been a very free spirited DJ, I never really know what I am doing next, until I do it. But I also love the person who can calculate his routines and shows and map it out.

And do you have any thoughts on the way the community can control the current commercialisation, and in a way exploitation, of the artform? Especially over here there has been a tendency in recent years to use turntablism and scratching in every advert you can think of.

JJ: Well more than anything is we have to have unity and stand together, and understand things. Now what you have to do is, any kind of publicity that a turntablist gets right now is good because it's the educational period and we need to let people know that we exist and that we mean something. Each time that we get an opportunity we have to use it as an educational opportunity to let people know. And I have always done that, and then sometimes what you have to understand is that, no matter how advanced you are as a turntablist, the rest of the world is still trying to catch up. So sometimes when you are explaining it or showing it to people for the first time you may have to go back to the basics and then build your way up. Because that is the way that people appreciate it.

And what do you think of movies like Scratch and Battlesounds, the way they help bring the knowledge to more people as you were saying?

JJ: I think that's great. I think that once again through the technology, internet and DVDs, the abilities for us to put together our own DVDs and movies from low and limited budgets has become formidable. Now we are starting to get people to really explain things and give some history. People like Q-Bert and his instructional DVDs, where he shows you scratches and breaks it down, which I thought was incredible because it gives people an opportunity and a foundation to learn. And you have to remember there was nobody around to teach people like myself, so now you got a whole generation of DJs that you can go to and will give you guidelines, and you know all it is, is just a movement, that's just getting bigger and bigger.

You've played an important part in the development of the turntablist artform as everybody knows, and im not going to dwell on that, but I was wondering as you have advanced a lot of the scratches up another level in your time, do you believe that scratching on its own has reached an artistic ceiling?

JJ: No, not at all. Because I believed that once before and that was when pretty much we thought that myself and Cash Money did everything that there was to do on a turntable. And then to realize how someone kinda developed it, because now it's down to, you know, developing finger patterns and then you start to develop finger patterns with the record, and then tricks to quicken it. So I think that turntablism is almost the same thing as a guitar, your imagination is the ceiling!

It is infinite. And what aspects of turntablism today do you think are groundbreaking? Things like juggling, and electronic music being thrown into the mix?

JJ: I love a lot of the scratching and the patterns especially because a lot of times people don't understand that scratches and patterns are time signatures. And you're cutting the time signatures in half to create an effect of sorts and sometimes its an illusion of things that are faster but not actually as fast as it sounds. I think that a lot of the scratching aspects, you should bring out the rhythmic side of it more so people can really feel it, get their groove on. To me I find a very common goal and denominator with people who like music, is rhythm. Once you get in that rhythm, you could play just a basic beat and get the whole crowd moving, you know what I mean? Once you kinda lock into that rhythm then you can let people know, it's amazing you know, sometimes when you see these guys juggle and you watch the whole crowd once they catch the juggle and get into the rhythm the whole crowd is bobbing their heads to the rhythm and its kinda like that's innovative in itself that somebody is going to start to make records like that. Ok let me juggle something and get an MC to rhyme off it, or let me juggle something and realize what I juggle and sample a piece of that and just keep using myself over and over. Its like you are becoming that instrument that we so definitely want to become, and get that respect in turntablism.

You said you were at the DMC last week, and I know you entered the NMS back in the days, and I read somewhere that you said you were too nice to ever be a battle DJ. Is that still true?

JJ: (laughs) No man, you know why? Because I am DJ fan, I love DJs you know what I mean? I love battle DJs and I love the energy in the competitions because it keeps us on our toes. But I've always been the DJ that was like, my quest was more for the public. When I was in the NMS I remember telling my mom that "all of this noise that you think I'm really making everyday I really think that it is worth something and I think that I am really good at what I do". And so to enter in a competition with pretty much the world's best and win, you know that's kinda like "whoa!" There was a point in time where, for days, I thought I was the best DJ in the world and I didn't have to prove that to anybody but myself. For that time it was like... "You are the best you know?" (Laughs) and I was satisfied and after that it was like "whoa", because at that time being the best DJ in the world only mattered to other DJs. So from then on my quest was, now that I have shown it to other DJs let me go on a mission to show the world! And that's where my whole competition thing stopped.

JJ: Absolutely, let me turn to the non-turntablists or the non-DJ fans and let them understand what we do.

You mentioned Final Scratch and how much you like it, and do you think you could use just CD decks?

JJ: Just CD decks I couldn't do. But on the other hand when I go out to play I request 2 cd decks and 2 turntables to play. Because there are things that I can do with the CDs and turntables or another unit, that kinda makes everything cohesive. It allows me to bring a lot more music with me than I could just bringing records. But trust me the foundation is always my turntables.

You mentioned earlier on the turntablists using the patterns and the juggles into their production and I was wondering if you'd heard the albums by D-Styles and Triple Threat as well as the X-Cutioners stuff, where they really show that turntablists are producers at heart. Do you have any project of working on something like that yourself?

JJ: Actually I have some stuff that I am working on. What I really love about the whole Final Scratch is... you know what really hurt DJs when it came to making tracks like that, was when it turned into a really big fiasco with the sample clearances. For me to do a record like the "Magnificent Jazzy Jeff" back in the day with Will or even a label like A Touch of Jazz, where you are pretty much just cutting up breaks its close to impossible. And its hard because even today, Will is still Will of old, and a couple of albums ago we did a track on his album called ‘Pump Me Up', where I just cut ‘Pump Me Up' and scratched a lot of stuff in and we did like an old classic Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince cut. And it was amazing because he paid over 150000$ for clearance. And its kinda like "Whoa man!" You know that killed Hip-Hop. You know with things like Final Scratch and the CDJs it allows to go in and make your own beats and do all these things with your own beats. And at least it doesn't cut it completely down.

It allows you to make your own samples and breaks for your use

JJ: Exactly, exactly.

I don't know if this is right or not, but I heard you are going to Fame Academy tomorrow night?

JJ: Yeah.

I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on the program, or if you knew anything about it?

JJ: You know I don't know too much about it, I kinda got briefed on it, and they want me to help out with some of the production and I'm going to do a small DJ set. It's just really once again, an educational process, maybe I'll cut a couple of breakbeats, cut up stuff like Peter Piper, Rock the Bells. Something that will give people an understanding, very basic, because you don't want to go too far overboard. I've always considered myself an intelligent DJ, let me take this record, and let me play the part that I am going to manipulate so that you hear, and then I'll play it again, so you hear it, you hear it again. Ok now watch me change it, watch me turn it around and do this and this, because that's the only way people will appreciate it. Sometimes I will tell young DJs in a competition, when you got a record that no one knows how it goes, and you start to juggle it, and do all of this crazy stuff to it, sometimes people don't understand how you changed it if they don't know what it sounds like. So I would tell them "If you are going to be in a battle and you want to make an impact, make sure you do it with records that people know".

So we can look forward to some turntablists styles in Fame Academy then?

JJ: Absolutely.

Just a quick word on local Hip-Hop scenes, I know you've been touring the world, and I was wondering if you have had a chance to experience the local scenes, like France, Germany and the UK and what you think of them?

JJ: All of the Hip-Hop scenes that I have come across I really love you know, I really, really love the production. No disrespect to the MCs, but I am a producer fanatic so I'm one of those guys that doesn't remember any of the lyrics to the songs but I remember how the beat goes. And then I get into the lyrics. The Hip-Hop scenes around the world is definitely growing you know. And getting a whole lot better, I try to buy as much music as I can when I am in one city. And when I am traveling to the next, I try to listen to it and take it in, because I like playing stuff that I got. I'm one of those guys, when you come and hear me play you won't hear one record that you hear on the radio. Because to me if you're used to hearing it on the radio, why would you want me to come out and play the exact same thing? Let me do something that you haven't heard. I kinda look at it as cheating, if I can hear something on the radio then don't play it for me. Or if you're going to play it for me then do something with it.

And are you interested in working with foreign artists?

JJ: Oh absolutely.

And who are you feeling at the minute, I know you've mentioned J-Live and Jazzanova. Is there anyone else that has really impressed you recently?

JJ: Well believer it or not, I think I was in Brixton and I got a CD of a group called Unforseen that I really like. And I've been keeping in contact with them, and it's funny because it was just something that they worked on, and they gave it to me and it became one of my favourite records. And I like that, for one of my favourite records to be something that not a lot of people know about. I have always been fan of Common, The Roots and Slum Village and I love the NERDS. I'm loving the ‘Frontin' song, with Pharrel. That's a song to me that feels good. It's got this Michael Jackson kinda feel to it, I love that. And it's funny because there are a lot of records out now that I am really feeling.

The last question would be: If you had a carte blanche for booking your ideal party line up who would you pick? DJs, MCs and bands.

JJ: Whoa!!! Ummm (ponders for a few seconds). I would probably have to say I need... Doug E. Fresh, KRS-ONE, J-Live and Will as MCs. And the DJ line up would have to be myself, Biz Markie with Kid Capri back to back, probably DJ Craze and J-Rocc from the Junkies.

And bands?

JJ: It would have to be the Roots, as my backing band and the ATOJ band as well. But if I had to pick one it would be the Roots.

And what about the venue?

JJ: Either be Paradisio in Amsterdam, could be The Electric Factory in Philly, or Brixton Academy.

That's great, and have you got any last words?

JJ: Just thank you to everybody that supports the art of turntablism and just music freedom in general. Because if you support music freedom then you not gonna turn your nose down to turntablism. And hopefully I can continue touring the world and just playing music for people who love all kind of music and I can become a really big virus that will spread all over the world.

Many thanks to Jeff for his time and Kelly at ZooManagement for the hook up. For more info on Jeff and ATOJ check www.djjazzyjeff.com. Also be sure to look up our follow up interview with Jeff conducted in November 04.