Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick · Jean-Paul Maunick, almost always called Bluey, is a British guitarist, bandleader, composer and producer. He was born in 1957 in Mauritius, the son of the poet Edouard Maunick, and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of nine. There he played as one of the original members of Light of the World, a group from the British jazz-funk scene of the late 1970s.

Music and breakthrough

In 1979 he founded Incognito and to this day he is the leader of that band. Incognito is regarded as one of the core names of British acid jazz: a club-oriented sound in which soul, funk and jazz come together. With the group he made fifteen studio albums, besides live albums, remix albums and compilations. As a producer Bluey worked with Paul Weller, George Benson, Maxi Priest and Terry Callier. He also collaborated with Stevie Wonder.

Influence

In 2013 his first solo album, Leap of Faith, appeared, on which he combined club-oriented soul-jazz with the calm of an older master. In 2021, together with Gilles Peterson, he formed the group STR4TA, which released the album Aspects on Peterson's label Brownswood Recordings. His importance lies mainly in keeping the jazz-funk sound of the 1970s and 1980s alive, and in the bridge he built between British club culture and American soul and jazz.

Listening

In School of Rock

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