He’s continued recording regularly, releasing 14 albums total. “Before I knew it, I had a career.” Najee’s subsequent albums, including 1988’s Day By Day and 1990’s Tokyo Blues, garnered platinum and gold album sales and topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz charts. That first album ( Najee’s Theme) did phenomenally well - it was gold in three or four months and ended up being Grammy nominated,” he says. “From there, I got signed to my first record deal in 1986. A year later, he moved home to Queens, N.Y., and was promptly hired by Chaka Khan in 1983, just as the diva became an international star. That fateful encounter kept him in the business. “He said, ‘I can’t believe you would do that,’ and ended up giving me a saxophone that he had and started calling me for gigs,” Najee says. Soon thereafter, he ran into a fellow student who asked about his absence in class. “I didn’t have the money to continue my education, so I decided, ‘Maybe this isn’t for me,’ and I quit, sold my instruments, and went and got a job at a bank,” he recalls. He was a struggling student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in the early ’80s who had recently given up on his music career, dropped out of school, and sold his saxophone. “It was an education for me, the whole time I was there.”Įven before he played with Prince, Najee was a star in his own right. “I was originally supposed to go out for two weeks, and I ended up being with him for three years,” says Najee. From 2000 to 2003, Najee toured and recorded with Prince, appearing prominently on his 2001 disc The Rainbow Children. In tracks off of Najee’s latest release, 2009’s Mind Over Matter, the artist’s influences are apparent in both his flute and sax playing and in the funky backing arrangements. “I’m a very fickle listener, and I’m ashamed to say, but smooth jazz is not always my favorite music.” “I love Kenny G and what he does, but we’re nothing alike in terms of our concerts,” says Najee. If you came of age in the ’80s or ’90s, you probably struggled to keep your teeth perfectly still when his grooving hits like “Betcha Don’t Know” came on in your middle school-era orthodontist’s chair. Najee calls his music “urban contemporary jazz.” It’s the kind that causes subtle head-bobbing in elevators. Includes The Hit "Songbird." Corner Crease & Wear To The Mouth Of The Sleeve.Najee may hesitate to call his music “smooth jazz,” but there are few things smoother than when the saxophonist and his bass player trade licks in the opening minutes of his 1986 hit, “For the Love of You.” It’s probably the slow, heavily reverbed drum fills and electronic snare pop that sentence Najee to inevitable Kenny G comparisons, but that curly haired sax man can’t touch his peer when it comes to adding funk and soul into the mix. more detailsġ986 Original Still In Shrink With Hype Sticker. more detailsġ983 Original Still In Shrink With Custom Inner Sleeve. more detailsġ986 Original Still In Shrink. more detailsġ983 Original With Custom Inner Sleeve. more detailsġ985 Original Still In Shrink With Custom Hype Sticker "Love On The Rise" (Featuring Kashif) On The Shrink Wrap. more detailsġ988 2nd Issue With Original Artwork Still In Shrink.
Hype Sticker Does Not Mention The Smash Hit "Songbird," So This Must Be An Early Pressing. Sealed 1986 Original With Custom Hype Sticker On Shrink. Sealed 1997 12" Single Featuring 4 Mixes Of The Title Track (Tony Moran Club Mix, Tony Moran Dub, Todd Terry Freeze Mix And Todd Terry Havana Dub). A Very Hot Title With Audiophiles Around The Globe And The First Sealed Copy We Have Seen In Ten Years. Recorded In Seattle & San Diego And Featuring Great Sound. more detailsįactory Sealed And Extremely Difficult To Find 1989 2LP Gatefold Original With The Rare Concert Ticket Hype Sticker On The Shrink Wrap. Sealed 1983 Original With Custom Inner Sleeve And Hype Sticker On The Shrink Wrap. A Very Hot Title With Audiophiles Around The Globe. Shrink Wrap Is Still Just Intact With The Rare Concert Ticket Attached. more detailsĮxtremely Difficult To Find 1989 2LP Gatefold (Original U.S. Custom Album Hype Sticker On Shrink Wrap. more detailsġ983 Original In Shrink Wrap With Custom Hype Sticker And Custom Inner Sleeve. Sealed 1988 Reissue With Alternate Artwork. Although Both The Jacket And LPs State That They Are Manufactured In Canada, We Believe These Quiex Pressings Were Only Manufactured In The U.S.A. Both LPs Are Pressed On Quiex Virgin Vinyl And Look Unplayed.
Very Hard To Find 1989 2LP Gatefold Recorded In Seattle & San Diego With Great Sound.