Jerome Najee Rasheed, who uses the mononym Najee professionally, says that his first loves musically were the tenor saxophone and the flute, and that his brother Fareed was the person who goaded him into taking up the soprano sax. Turns out, that’s the instrument where he found his initial success. He’s had four of his albums go platinum, two more that went gold, has had 5 #1 albums on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Album chart and 4 #1 singles on the Jazz singles chart, and has been nominated for a Grammy.
From his first album, 1986 Najee’s Theme, here’s the title track.
From his latest release, 2017’s Poetry In Motion, here’s the title track.
His website tells us he’ll be at Clayfin University in Charleston, South Carolina on April 1 and at Earl Klugh’s Weekend of Jazz in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 5. He’ll be in Atlanta with Brian Culbertson on August 3.
Najee, your Two for Tuesday, March 19, 2019.
Not my scene but I did listen 🌹
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Just me being disc jockey, as usual…
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So pretty. You might be turning me into a jazz lover – at least the smooth jazz kind!
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He’s particularly good. I’m listening to “Poetry in Motion” now on Spotify.It’s nice and relaxing as I shred old checks…
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As an ex-flute player, I loved the second piece. Really beautifully done. Thank you for sharing.
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You’re welcome. He’s a great musician.
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Wow! Worth the listen. He’s very good.
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He is. I’ve been listening to him a lot on Spotify the last couple of days.
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He is xcellent but not my cup o tea:)
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🙂
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