...this album is worthwhile yes, BUT more as a historical document than in its own right. I say this in all honesty as a huge fan of Jazz, Gangstarr and Guru. I thought this album was okay at best, but have never loved it.

Let me explain: This album was indeed one of the early points where legit jazz (not samples) was being truly mixed in with hip hop.

Yet most early efforts eg Ronny Jordan's similar (but more instrumental) effort etc just lacked the right mix of these things. This album suffers from that weakness, despite the strength of the personell and the sincerety of intent by the participants.

If that isnt enough, this album (in my opinion) exposes and intersting fact: Guru perhaps in fact got props for his talent BEFORE it had actually flower. Some of the lyrics here are not only corny but structurally weak.

If you contrast by looking at Gurus work on the last 2 Gang Starr albums (The Ownerz, 2003) (Moment of Truth, 1998) the difference is shocking. There we see Guru as an MC in full bloom, total control of hs gift and throwing off hours of jaw-droppingly precise work. There his legendary status is more than confirmen. In fact if anything he puts forth a case for being greatest of all time there.

That puts anything he did here to shame as far as I'm concerned. In that sense my dissapointment at this album back when it came out is only confirmed: he could - and eventually DID - produce better than what he dropped here.

And musically, I will always think that Primo would be the one to truly bring the jazz & hip hop closer. What he does with samples is beyond incridbe. It is evidence of the kind of ear that would be required to put together a trully compelling mix of contemporary hip hop and live jazz. But for some reason, Primo has never seemed show any (public) evidenence of interest in exploring that. Maybe he doesn't want to step on Guru's toes. We may never now....

But sure buy this Jazzamatazz thing to see what it was like, as a legit historical document of jazz and hip-hop starting to belnd. Just dont expect it to fulfill the hype it always seems to have got.

I was in college at Clark Atlanta University when this album came out. I thought the album was DOPE back then. I was raised on jazz and grew up on hip hop so this was a great album to listen to. For whatever reason most hip hop/jazz albums fail but this one worked...In the college circle this album was either rebuked or recieved luke worm..now this was the early 90's and that DAS EFX typ of rapping was in, hip hop was very closed minded at the time, anything done out of the context of hip hop at that time was rebuked...but coming from San Francisco we tend to have a more open mind to different vibes of music, this album was in the context of two of my favorite genre's of music. I will say this, Guru was really taking a risk with this album a HUGE risk with his fan based, but this album goes to show you that he was not a one dimensional individual. He was not some hip hopper that just stayed in cyphers all day thinking about lyric and stuff. Guru had a vision and he made it come to fruition. It has been...WOW...12 years since this album dropped and it has gained more influence and has been litteraly elevated to a classic, as it should be...IT IS JUST ONE HELL OF AN ALBUM...Jazzmatazz has aged like a fine French wine, the quality gets better over the years.

This is a great album to enjoy whether you are a hip hopper or a jazzman...I will say this Jazz people need to stop acting like such elitist and realize jazz can be integrated in other musical forms...And Hip Hop needs to stop being such and elitist closed minde genre also. Hip Hop has gotten so commercial and watered down, it does not resemble the hip hop of 93'. This album show the best of both worlds...Good Job Guru...you were wayyy ahead of your time on this one...and he still is. I can't see this type of album happening today....

Well lemme say this, First of all this is a classic to me, Even though I love hip-hop all around me, It change me. Like I said Hip-Hop's my spirit. Anyway, my most favorite picks of the album are Loungin, No Time to Play, Down the Backstreets, Trust Me, Slicker than Most, Le Bien, Le Mal, and Sights in the City.
For those of you don't like hip-hop or don't like the sound of jazz that's play on here, I urge you to go cop it. 'Cause it's my favorite CD to date.

I've been a fan to Guru since he work w/ the group Gang Starr ( on which he formed in '88 with his partner DJ Premier) had just put out classic albums that change the game of hip-hop (Y'know like classics like STEP IN THE ARENA and DAILY OPERATION) And 'mos definitely I've seen him on BET on Jazz one time when he shot a video for the song "Loungin" on which he did with Donald Byrd and VH1 Soul he was on the "Trust Me" video w/ N'Dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies.

Anyway, a long period short, Like I said I urge ya'll 2 go pick this up 'cause it takes u back from the early days of jazz and hip-hop or jazz rap whateva I have to call it. ('member the days when A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Digable Planets, The Jungle Brothers, US3, Jeru the Damaja, etc. were out?) Highly recommended as a must-have. 'Cause Guru is my favorite rapper to date.

Peace, I luv ya'll.

In principle guru's experimentation on jazzmatazz is a good thing. The variety of guest artists adds diversity and originality to each track, and gives the cd a distinct jazz flavor. However, there is one problem with the album: guru really isn't a very good lyricist. His rhymes are boring, simple, and formulaic. An example from "take a look at yourself": "In there gettin funky with the track/I used to drive a cadillac/it got me there and back." As you can see, the lack of diversity in guru's delivery makes for a fairly bland album, despite its experimental nature and promising direction.

I've always been a big fan of Guru and Gangstarr and they haven't really ever let me down in producing quality music. This is definitely no exception. A fantastic blend of smooth jazz and hip hop featuring many great artists.

It's not the fusion that makes this such a great album, it's the way in which it is fused. Guru's deep and meaningful lyrics go well the fantabulous vocals of N'Dea Davenport to create beautiful music. This is best displayed on the final track of the album "Sights in the City".

For anyone who buys this and likes it as much as I do, I would also recommend 'Jazzmatazz' volumes 2 and 3, which also feature a number of up and coming artists, some who've already established themselves considerably.