Jeffery Allan Townes has never been a man of many words. Big Will was the one given to the neon pyrotechnic dancing on the show and in videos, after all. So it’s not surprising that now, over 20 years deep into his DJing career (which brings him to Mighty on Fri/21), Townes – a.k.a. DJ Jazzy Jeff – is not given to overexplaining his steez.
Hey Jazz, what’s up with your set these days? You’ve been reaching past the early ’90s hip-hop classics to diversify your time in the booth as of late, what are some of your favorite tracks to spin these days? You dig jazz (obviously), what’s up with that?
“I have a love of all music. Classics may be my fave though, just because there are so many to choose from,” was Jazz’s taciturn reply. DJs love music! Fantastic. But what’s snark ever done for us — Jazz has a decades-long reputation of being a high quality beat-bringer that started in Philly house parties, trucked through the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days, and continued to thrive even when Will Smith moved on to summer blockbuster ass kicking. In 1990 (right as the TV show was taking off), Jazz started his own production company, A Touch of Jazz, that was responsible for a slew of platinum careers, including that of R&B poet Jill Scott and funkster Musiq Soulchild.
And he’s still scratching. Jazz was famous for pioneering DJ moves like the transform scratch, a tricksy manuever involving repeated movement of the crossfader. In 2009, he joined the ranks of scratch legends Grandmaster Flash and DJ Shadow on the X-Box hit DJ Hero. Jazz tries to use his powers on the ones and twos for good: “I want to make people forget all of there problems and have a great time. I want to take them on some sort of musical journey,” he wrote.
Multi-dimensional career aside, we were still gonna ask him about the Will Smith brood. Rumors are that Jazz will be producing a “Parents Just Don’t Understand” remix with none other than “Whip Your Hair” 10-year old “good as her dad” Willow Smith. He was coy about their collaboration, only saying that he hasn’t started working with her – yet – but he did sound impressed about Willow and brother “Karate Kid” Jaden’s genetic mastery of show biz. “I tease Will that they’re “The Incredibles” with all the talent they have,” Jazz lol’s.
There’s always gonna be that “Parents Don’t Understand”- “Summertime” laurel hanging over Jazz’s headphones – which, unlike a lot of celebrities who continue to be known for the glory days way back when doesn’t seem to bother him. “I’m not mad at the association. I don’t care why people know me or like me — as long as I can grab them through music it’s all good.”
Which makes sense – when you’re a DJ famous for making music that makes people get loose, wear their baseball hats rakishly askew, and dance around to, you’re not exactly trying to escape your reputation. Or get overmuch concerned with talking about it, it would seem.
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Fri/21 10 p.m.- late, $20
The Mighty
119 Utah, SF