This summer, get ready to funk as multi-million record selling Jamiroquai is coming to Nice on the 28th of July. Its seventh and latest album, Rock Dust Light Star released in 2010 may have underperformed selling considerably less that its previous LPs but the English band still packs venue all around the world with its blend of funk, acid, jazz, disco, soul and pop.
Formed in 1992, the group derives its name from the Native American Indian tribe the « Iroquois » and is famous all across the globe for its highly danceable music and its electrifying live performances.
Jamiroquai’s full-length debut, Emergency on Planet Earth was a major hit in England (peaking at number one on the charts), but it is with its second release, The Return of the Space Cowboy in 1995 that the band became an international phenomenon. Its third effort, the 1996’s Travelling Without Moving led the group to its breakthrough in America. The album spawned the worldwide hits Virtual Insanity, which won numerous awards in 1997 for its spectacular video, Cosmic Girl, Alright and Deeper Underground, which was the soundtrack of a Godzilla (1998) movie.
If the group’s early songs had an acid jazz flavour, the two following albums Synkronized in 1999, which featured the hit singles Canned Heat and Supersonic, and the multi-platinum A Funk Odyssey in 2001 undeniably showed a shift in musical direction towards funk and disco. Meanwhile, Jamiroquai’s latest release marks a return to its earlier, less pop-like sound.
Over the years, the line-up of the band has changed many times. Today, the only remaining original member is singer Jay Kay, who is known as “the cat in the hat” for his passion for groovy buffalo caps and feathered fedoras. Jamiroquai plays at the Nikaia at 8:30pm. Tickets cost €49 and are on sale through the usual outlets.