LateNightTales: Jamiroquai
LateNightTales: Jamiroquai is the fourth compilation album in Jamiroquai's discography and the tenth installment in the Late Night Tales series, released November 10th, 2003. It is composed of 18 tracks, 17 of them being selected by Jay Kay and 1 spoken word track narrated by Brian Blessed.
Background
LateNightTales (previously known as Another Late Night) is an ongoing series of artist-curated compilation albums released by Azuli Records. The compilations are mixed individually by the artist selected to their liking and created into 1 whole continuous mix in order to create the "ultimate late-night mix". These compilations will usually end with a spoken word narration of a story, either in parts or a short story. Most of the time these albums will also contain an exclusive cover done by the artist. These compilations are known for its rich selection and quality covers, dubbed "The Rolls-Royce of compilations"[1]
Jay Kay would be selected as the 10th artist for the series, dubbed their biggest artist selected yet. The compilation gravitates more to soul, funk, disco, and folk songs each from different artists to fit a Jamiroquai-esque style.
"So what we have here is a mix that betrays the Jamiroquai roots; a weekender veteran's delight, if you like. You can almost hear the rustle of the plastic sandals. With the inclusion of Marvin's pointed alimony payment to his erstwhile wife (hence the title), the mood rises and falls throughout the mix. A pair of covers amply illustrate the point: Rufus & Chaka's rollicking rendition of 'Once You Get Started, followed later by Señor Feliciano's peerless reading of the Mamas & Papas California Dreamin', a perfectly wistful interlude."[2] - Bill Brewster
Tracklist
There are several variations of the tracklist, but standard versions follow as shown below
- Happiness (The Pointer Sisters)
- Girl I Think The World About You (The Commodores)
- Once You Get Started (Rufus & Chaka Khan)
- Fantasy (Johnny 'Hammond' Smith)
- Whisper Zone (Ramsey Lewis)
- What's Your Name (Leon Ware)
- Stay Free (Ashford & Simpson)
- Tonight's The Night (Kleeer)
- I'll Never Forget (Dexter Wensel)
- Pretty Baby (Sistser Sledge)
- California Dreamin' (Jose Feliciano)
- Here's To You (Skyy)
- Life On Mars (Dexter Wensel)
- Rainin' Through My Sunshine (The Real Thing)
- Theme From Enter The Dragon (Main Title) (Lalo Schifrin)
- Here, My Dear (Marvin Gaye)
- Music Of The Earth (Patricie Rushen)
- The White City Part 3 (Brian Blessed)
Songs
Happiness (The Pointer Sisters)
"Happiness", released early 1979 for their 1978 album, Energy, is a song by The Pointer Sisters. Serving as the first track, it is a soul-pop track. Beginning as a piano-heavy song, it soon transforms into a groovy disco track. As Kay wrote, "...as an opening track, you can't improve on this." The track's elements alligned heavily with Jamiroquai's Alright with it's drums and Kay's teenage years, having stuck with him throughout his whole life.
Girl, I Think The World About You (The Commodores)
Serving as the second track, "Girl, I Think The World About You" is a song released by The Commodores on their fourth album, "Hot On The Tracks". It is a primarily slow-funk track with it's blaring trumpet and eccentric vocal delivery. Described as "pure bass-driven funk" by Kay, it's highlights stem from it's sweet lyrics, chord progression, and in general being a "classic tune".