Jamiroquai are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in their early releases and later drew from rock, disco, electronic and Latin music genres. Lyrically, the group has addressed social and environmental justice. Kay has remained as the only original member through several line-up changes.
Jamiroquai performing at the Coachella Music Festival in 2018
Jay Kay performing with Jamiroquai, c. 1995
Kay, Harris, McKenzie and Paul Turner performing at the Congress Theater in Chicago, 2005
Jamiroquai performing at the O2 in London, 2017. Left to right: Johnson, Harris, Williams, Kay and Akingbola.
Acid jazz is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul, and hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1980s with the rare groove movement and spread to the United States, Western Europe, Latin America and Japan. Acts included The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, James Taylor Quartet, Us3, and Jamiroquai from the UK, and Guru, Buckshot LeFonque and Digable Planets from the U.S. The rise of electronic club music in the middle to late 1990s led to a decline in interest, and in the twenty-first century, acid jazz became indistinct as a genre. Many acts that might have been defined as acid jazz are seen as jazz-funk, or nu jazz.
French disc jockey Gilles Peterson invented the term "acid jazz".
Brand New Heavies in 2013
Guru, who recorded with Jazzmatazz