Along with Mix Master Mike, DJ Jazzy Jeff is one of those dudes who lives by the credo if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if it gets in your way, f–k it. Like Mike himself, Jeff never had much luck with school. He never graduated from John Bartram High School in Philly, but it must mean something when they have his head plaque-ified on the High School Wall of Fame, right? Then again, he probably cares less now than back then; the guy was throwing bloc parties while other kids were sweating gym class. Jazzy Jeff, aka Jeffrey Towne, ditched classes to learn the trade, much as Mike escaped city drudgery by traveling lone wolf style to learn whatever it took to acquire his trade. If you’re white like me, you may have tuned in to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air every week just to see Jazz get tossed out of the house by Will Smith’s Uncle Phil. But there’s clearly a lot more to the lad than that, as his darling status as regular at many of the Red Bull Music Academy Thre3 Styles would suggest. Feel free to get a listen of his latest set here, where he mixes everything from classic Marley to jazz of olde to Biz Markie. There had to be more to the guy besides Nightmare on My Street.
