What is "jazzmatazz"

Jazzmatazz is a series of hip hop and jazz recordings from American musical artist and producer Guru.

In a 2009 interview he reflected, "Back around '93—when I first came up with the Jazzmatazz concept—I was noticing how a lot of cats were digging in the crates and sampling jazz breaks to make hip hop records. But while I thought that was cool, I wanted to take it to the next level and actually create a new genre by getting the actual dudes we were sampling into the studio to jam over hip hop beats with some of the top vocalists of the time. You know, the whole thing was experimental, but I knew it was an idea that would spawn some historic music."

In 2012, former Guru collaborator MC Solaar announced he was assembling a group to revive the project, including Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbush of Living Colour.