Us3 is basically my musical baby. It started out in '92 as an experiment to fuse hip hop and jazz using the Blue Note back catalogue as a sampling resource. I didn’t want it to be a totally retrospective thing though so I mixed it up using US rappers and a variety of young jazz musicians from the burgeoning jazz scene in London. My original theory was that there were three elements to Us3 music; the old jazz samples, the boom bap with the rap, and young cats soloing on top. This acknowledged the past, was firmly rooted in the present, and looked forward to the future. I wanted to open up some heads. I wanted to hand on the torch.
The last 4 Us3 albums (Questions / Schizophonic / Say What!? / stop. think. run) have all been released independently on my own label. The new album stop. think. run features US rappers Brook Yung and Sene along with the cream of British jazz talent.
The 8-piece live Us3 band have performed 29 shows in 13 different countries this year. Check the dates above for forthcoming gigs.
