Feature - The Magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff

The 90s kids - or the 90s kids wannabes may remember him. He produced hip-hop bangers with Will Smith and acted on the comedy classic, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It's DJ Jazzy Jeff, aka Jazz or even the Magnificent, and I don’t disagree.

Jazz performed a one-night-only show at The Night Cat in Melbourne, supported by Yo! Mafia and Mz Rizk! He shocked audiences by not only bringing the 90s but delivering a time travel journey in music. Jazz started with the present and worked his way down. It was unpredictable. He would go from Cardi B to Diana Ross. 

Speaking with the artist about his show, Jazz shared, "I am somebody who plays everything, you'll hear some modern stuff, some old stuff, some disco stuff, some house stuff, you name it". 

"I don't know anybody on earth who only likes one type of music, so I like to play music for people to move, you want to get a reaction out of people, so you just take them on a trip," he said.

As Jazz does about four to five tours a year, there is some international influence in his music from his touring. "I grab music from every corner of the globe, I played a bunch of Brazilian and Afro-Cuban stuff tonight." 

When Jazz visits new places, he has a tradition of visiting record stores to immerse in the music of the particular region.

"Like I went to a record shop here and explored and got a bunch of music today and I'm going to take it in place for somewhere else, but that's what you want," he told In Review’s Youssef Saudie.

He maintained that, when he reaches his next destination, Tokyo, he will do the same.

DJ Jazzy Jeff at Melbourne music venue The Night Cat. Image: Youssef Saudie

As the years go by in Jazz's DJing career, he continues to want to make the next generation move with his music. 

"I'm pretty sure that I've played for parents and now the kids," he said. "You try to play for everybody."

Jazz continued with saying how he wants to "make people move" when he sees them and has no preference on who he performs for. 

"I don't care, race, breed, colour, anyone," jazz said. "Music is universal."

Throughout the show, The Night Cat in Fitzroy was bustling with hundreds of people from all walks of life to jam to Jazz. With the massive fog display, you could barely notice the swarms of old-school hip hop enthusiasts…until you hit the dance floor. It got hot on that cold Melbourne night. The crowd was the kind where you definitely had to watch out for getting yourself elbowed. You also had to keep clear of the couple in front of you getting a bit ‘jiggy with it’...

Despite all of this, Jazz loves the "intimacy of the room", with the people being up-close, right in front of him. 

"You felt like you were partying with them," he said.

DJ Jazzy Jeff fan, Alicia, who attended the event expressed that she "could not have wished for a better evening". "All that he was adding on top of it to each song, it made it completely different, it revolutionised all the songs," she said. "There wasn't a song where you weren't like 'oh, this isn't too great', everything was amazing". The partygoer went on to sing The Magnificent’s praises and commend his Melbourne performance in saying "he's one of the great legends in DJ music", making the night "definitely surreal".

Another attendee at The Night Cat, Zafar, said he remembered when the performer was on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and initially didn't know he was really a DJ. "He (friend next to him) told me he was a DJ, then I listened to his music, awesome!"

Melbourne was lucky enough to be the only city in Australia for Jazz to visit in his current tour. But the DJ made it clear that he would have liked to have visited other places in Australia to show his support for those affected by the bushfires. 

"I wish (I was going to other places in Australia), especially with all of the stuff that's going on, you try to figure out what you can do and sometimes it's just giving people a little bit of a relief from all the stuff that's going on," he said.

Jazz did share that visiting Australia sooner is on his mind.

"We're actually talking to possibly come back within the next couple of weeks since we're still going to be on this side of the world." 

Inspired by the silver screen, Jazz aims to continue making everyone's nights, ones to remember.

"The one thing about movies is your favourite music, it isn't your favourite movie without the music," he said. "I try to provide the soundtrack for the night, just like a movie."