Najee's Theme | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1986 | |||
Studio | Celestial Sounds Studios, New York, NY; Unique Recording Studios, New York, NY; Bayside Sounds, Queens, NY | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 44:01 | |||
Label | EMI America | |||
Producer | Charles Elgart, Najee, Rahni Song | |||
Najee chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
The Urban Music Scene | [1] |
Najee's Theme is the debut album by American jazz saxophonist and flautist, Najee. This album earned Najee a Grammy Award Nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1988. [2] [3]
Peggy Oliver of The Urban Music Scene writes, "It is hard to fathom that thirty years have passed since the single “Najee’s Theme” and the supporting album blazed the R&B and jazz charts, which for a debut recording was a remarkable accomplishment in itself." She gave the album 4½ out of five stars. [1]
The New Pittsburgh Courier did a piece on Najee and remarked about the album, "Najee became a top name in instrumental and jazz music circles after releasing, “Najee’s Theme” in 1986." [4]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Feel So Good to Me" |
| 4:42 |
2. | "Najee's Theme" | Rahni Song | 4:36 |
3. | "For the Love of You" |
| 5:02 |
4. | "Can't Hide Love" | Skip Scarborough | 5:10 |
5. | "We're Still Family" | Rahni Song | 4:41 |
6. | "Sweet Love" |
| 4:45 |
7. | "Betcha Don't Know" | Rahni Song | 5:50 |
8. | "What You Do To Me" |
| 5:13 |
9. | "Mysterious" | Wayne Brathwaite | 4:02 |
Total length: | 44:01 |
All track information and credits were taken from the CD liner notes. [9]
Earth, Wind & Fire are an American musical group. Their style and sound span various music genres such as jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
Omari Ishmael Grandberry, better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actor, and dancer. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the boy band B2K. The group achieved success in the early 2000s with their singles "Gots ta Be", "Uh Huh", "Girlfriend", and the number-one hit "Bump, Bump, Bump".
Anthony Cruz, better known by his stage name AZ, is an American rapper known for being a longtime and frequent music partner of East Coast rapper Nas and also a member of hip hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature. Online magazine About.com listed AZ as the "Most Underrated [Rapper] of All Time". AZ also made it onto the sites' "Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)", where he was reiterated as "arguably the most underrated lyricist ever."
Paul Louis Hardcastle is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song "19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985.
Jerome Najee Rasheed, known professionally as Najee, is an American jazz-Smooth jazz saxophonist and flautist.
Brown Sugar is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, released on July 3, 1995, through EMI. The album was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in sessions at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City and at the Pookie Lab in Sacramento. Its production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D'Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. The songs feature earnest lyrics about love and romance, set against a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.
Genius Loves Company is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, posthumously released August 31, 2004, on Concord Records. Recording sessions for the album took place between June 2003 and March 2004. The album consists of rhythm and blues, soul, country, blues, jazz and pop standards performed by Charles and several guest musicians, such as Natalie Cole, Elton John, James Taylor, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt. Genius Loves Company was the last album recorded and completed by Charles before his death in June 2004.
Maurice White was an American singer, band leader, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Philip James Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
Jeffrey H. Lorber is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Prototype by his band the Jeff Lorber Fusion.
"Unforgettable" is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song's original working title was "Uncomparable"; however, the music publishing company asked Gordon to change it to "Unforgettable". The song was published in 1951.
Double Vision is a 1986 album by Bob James and David Sanborn. The album was a successful smooth jazz release receiving frequent airplay. The original album was released in the US on May 19, 1986, Warner Bros, Cat No: 25393. It was released a week later in the UK.
Jonathan Michael Batiste is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music, released his own recordings, and performed in more than 40 countries. Batiste, with his band Stay Human, appeared nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2022.
Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American R&B and soul singer. Sullivan has received two Grammy Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Award, and two BET Awards over the course of her career. In 2022, Time placed her on their list of the 100 Most Influential People.
Q's Jook Joint is an album by Quincy Jones, released in 1995 by Qwest Records. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard jazz albums chart on December 30, 1995. Q's Jook Joint won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 1997.
Breezin' is the fifteenth studio album by jazz/soul guitarist and vocalist George Benson. It is his debut on Warner Bros. Records. It not only was a chart-topper in the Jazz category but also went to #1 on the pop and R&B charts. It was certified triple platinum, making it one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
Stargate is a record producing and songwriting team composed of Tor E. Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen, based in Los Angeles, USA. The team's genres include R&B, pop and hip hop. Stargate was established in Trondheim, Norway.
Smokie Norful Live is a live album from Contemporary Gospel singer Smokie Norful. The album was released on April 7, 2009, through EMI Gospel.
Qmillion, is an American record producer, mix engineer, composer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Qmillion's achievement for recording and mixing recording artist Robert Glasper's critically acclaimed Black Radio album, gained him a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards in 2013. and most recently nominated for Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Black Radio III by Robert Glasper on the 2023 Grammys.