- The Essential Mtume · 1983
- DISCO - 100 Hit's - Dance floor fillers from the 70s and 80s inc. The Jacksons, Boney M & Earth Wind & Fire · 1996
- The Essential Mtume · 2003
- Juicy Fruit (Expanded) · 1983
- The Essential Mtume · 1984
- Juicy Fruit (Expanded) · 1983
- The Essential Mtume · 1984
- Theatre of the Mind · 1986
- In Search of the Rainbow Seekers · 1980
- Pure... '80s Soul Grooves · 2009
- Juicy Fruit (Expanded) · 1983
- The Essential Mtume · 1978
- The Essential Mtume · 2003
Albums
Music Videos
- 2004
- 2004
- 1983
Compilations
- 2003
Appears On
- D.D.Oreyo
More To Hear
- DJ Spinna honors the late jazz and R&B legend James Mtume.
About Mtume
Once asked what he learned from his years in Miles Davis’ trailblazing mid-’70s band, James Mtume said that you couldn’t be afraid to change—or, at least, if you were, you were gonna find yourself stuck, fast. Mtume, who died on January 9, 2022, founded his eponymous band in the ’70s, blending post-bop and spiritual jazz with a sense of pan-African identity that represented a vanguard in Black American culture. (He was among the participants at the first Kwanzaa celebration in 1966.) As times changed, so did Mtume, cultivating a sound that bridged the harmonic sophistication of jazz with the soft minimalism of quiet storm and ’80s R&B—a style that helped define commercial hip-hop through the ’90s. (The group’s most famous song, “Juicy Fruit,” was the sample behind The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”—if you don’t know, now you know.) He left behind a wide-ranging legacy as a performer, bandleader, songwriter, and producer, threading Afrocentric jazz through ’80s club music and beyond.
- ORIGIN
- New York, NY, United States
- FORMED
- 1973
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul