From The Pace Report:

"The Revive Da Live Music Group paid tribute to Guru at Le Poisson Rouge as part as their 5th year anniversary. For the last five years Revive Da Live has produced innovative and fresh programming that continues forge both the legacy of hip-hop and jazz music. The Revivalist is a daily music and cultural blog that keeps abreast of the latest in the world of jazz, hip-hop, and happenings of the pull of urban America.

The Big Band Tribute was arranged and conducted by trumpeter Igmar Thomas and pianist/accompanist Marc Cary. These two divided the show into two parts: 1) featuring the music of Gang Starr. This included the music performed by the Revive De Live Big Band that showcased the music of both Guru and DJ Premier. 2) showcase and feature music from Guru's solo "Jazzmatazz" recordings. The Hip-Hop community showed up in full featuring live performances from Peter Gunz, Lord Finesse, O.C., Jeru the Damaja, and Greg Nice of Nice and Smooth.

Guru took a bold leap when he produced and spearheaded what would become a landmark in Hip-Hop. His 1993 release of "Jazzmatazz" volume 1 would be one of the most important crossroads in both jazz and rap. Guru recorded a record of original music along with some sampled jazz loop, along with some of the living legends of the music. The disc featured Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan, Courtney Pine, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, and Dr. Donald Byrd. Fusing both a live jazz band with rap was both ingenious and a critical success. He would also go on to record three other "Jazzmatazz" projects featuring diverse artists like Kem, Bob James, Vivian Green, and Chaka Khan. "


Another tribute to the Jazzmatazz legacy of The Guru by Polish band Dziewczynniepij.


Courtesy of Hias74 and Rap City Canada are interviews, live clips and behind the scenes footage during the making of Jazzmatazz Vol. 1, with appearances from Guru, Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers, N'Dea Davenport, MC Solaar and more.