Amidst all of the joy to be experienced during this week’s holiday festivities, the music world is grappling with the massive loss of Maxi Jazz, who passed away December 23rd due to unknown causes at the age of 65. Born Maxwell Fraser in June 1957, Jazz was a fixture within the London DJ and pirate radio communities during the 1980s and early 1990s, founding The Soul Food Café System before forming Faithless with Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss and Jamie Catto in 1995.
As the group’s lead emcee/vocalist, the self-proclaimed Grand Oral Disseminator’s distinctive voice and poetic lyricism arguably became the most prominent defining feature of the band’s musical identity. “Beginning with Reverence and throughout their prolific career that followed, Faithless have expertly crafted dance music with a heart, soul, and conscience, primarily thanks to the binary dynamism of Maxi Jazz’s cerebral soliloquies coupled with Rollo and Sister Bliss' masterful musicianship,” I wrote in my retrospective tribute to the collective’s 1996 debut album.
Indeed, like many other lifelong champions of the group, my own reverence for Faithless’ musical legacy runs deep, so Maxi Jazz’s passing has hit rather hard this week. Not surprisingly, his death has been greeted by a widespread outpouring of love and respect eloquently expressed by his musical peers and devoted fans, examples of which appear below.
As I remember Maxi Jazz this week, I’m revisiting Faithless’ sterling discography and in doing so, I’ve been reminded that there is arguably no better encapsulation of his poignant, powerful voice than the band’s 2005 performance at London’s Alexandra Palace. Recorded April 30, 2005 in conjunction with the release of the Forever Faithless compilation and released in DVD form later that year, the sold-out show finds the group in top form as they revisit eighteen of their most beloved songs from their first four studio albums, including “Salva Mea,” “Insomnia,” “God Is A DJ,” “We Come 1,” and “Mass Destruction.”
Watch the full performance below and be sure to share your own memories of Maxi Jazz with us via the comments section at bottom.
WATCH: