Guru - Jazzmatazz

Of all the 90’s jazz-rap albums I’ve listened to (yes, all three of them) this one is probably the most consistent. While no individual track is quite as amazingly good as Cantaloop or Jazz (We’ve Got) there aren’t any of the clunkers that are present on the other albums.

If anything this album is a simple appreciation of music. It’s music about how good music is. Lyrically it’s kind of shallow but it’s well constructed enough. The horn playing is really good, it’s certainly switched me on to some quality jazz artists, particularly Donald Byrd and Branford Marsalis.

Top tracks are the opener Loungin’, When Your Near and Le Bien, Le Mal with MC Solaar. The weakest track to me is the lead single Trust Me. Apparently this is the first album in a series, so I’ll be picking up the rest to review this year.