Biography:

Maxwell Fraser (14 June 1957 – 23 December 2022), better known by his stage name Maxi Jazz, was a British musician, rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ. He was the lead vocalist of British electronic band Faithless from 1995 to 2011 and 2015 to 2016.

Music career

Hip hop beginnings

Maxi Jazz was born Maxwell Fraser in Brixton, south London.^[1] Jazz founded The Soul Food Café System as a DJ in 1984, having discovered hip hop a year earlier. He first aired the sound as a DJ calling it “In the Soul Kitchen with DJ Maxi Jazz” on pirate radio station Reach FM London from 1985 to 1986. He transferred this sound to pirate radio station LWR in 1987.

In 1989, The Soul Food Café Band was picked up by Tam Tam Records, which is the dance wing of Savage Records. Jazz founded Namu Records in 1992 to release the band’s material in the form of three EPs and the band toured as a support act to various artists, including Jamiroquai in Amsterdam, Soul II Soul in Barcelona, Galliano in Switzerland, and Jason Rebello in Brazil. In 1996, Maxi Jazz and the Soul Food Cafe recorded and released the album “Original Groovejuice vol.1” with Revco Records in Deptford, South London. After the band dissolved, Jazz worked throughout Europe, and took time out to collaborate with Jah Wobble on the Invaders of the Heart album, followed by live dates with the Wobble Collective.

Faithless

In 1995, Jazz met Rollo Armstrong in a studio and went on to form Faithless, together with Jamie Catto and Sister Bliss. As a member of the Japanese Soka Gakkai Buddhist organisation, his strong beliefs and the band’s own strong individual beliefs contrast with the name ‘Faithless’, which was chosen during the writing of the song “Salva Mea“. Armstrong had asked Jazz to write a song about frustration, which was something to which Jazz could relate from his own experiences. The subject matter of Jazz’s lyrics range from upbeat to melancholic. His work covers a range of personal and social issues, including current affairs and social commentary.

In 2006, Jazz provided the vocals for the hit Tiësto track “Dance4life“. He also sang alongside Robbie Williams on the single “My Culture” from the collaborative album 1 Giant Leap.

In 2009 he raised £1,440,000 for the UK charity Comic Relief by singing non stop for 24 hours.

Jazz celebrated his 50th birthday on 15 June 2007 in Hyde Park, London by headlining that year’s O2 Wireless Festival. In the encore, he was greeted by thousands of fans wishing him happy birthday.

He performed and recorded with Faithless from their founding in 1995 until 2011. He re-joined the group in 2015 and 2016 as they performed under the Faithless 2.0 banner. His final live appearance with the band was at Ibiza Rocks on 31 August 2016.

Maxi Jazz and The E-Type Boys

In 2015, he began fronting a newly assembled band of musicians named Maxi Jazz & The E-Type Boys. Jazz provided lead vocals and also played guitar in the band. They made a number of festival appearances, including some at the same events at which Faithless were billed.

Credits: