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Biography
Refimprove|date=August 2008Infobox musical artist| name = Shakatak| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = London , England | genre = Post-disco Shapiro, Peter (1999). ''Drum 'n' Bass: The Rough Guide'' - Jimpster: "Odell Jamie combines Down Tempo and sorta-Junglist rhythms with flutes and jazzy atmospheres in the same way his father's band Roger Odell, Shakatak combined post-disco beats with flutes and jazzy atmospheres." Publisher: Rough Guides, p. 293. ISBN 1-85828-433-3 Jazz-funk Jazz fusion | years_active = 1980–present| label = Polydor Records | associated_acts =| website = http://www.shakatak.com Shakatak.com| current_members = Jill Saward Bill Sharpe (musician)|Bill Sharpe Roger Odell George Anderson| past_members = Keith Winter Steve Underwood Jackie Rawe Dick Morrissey Nigel Wright (record producer)|Nigel Wright Shakatak is an English people|English jazz-funk band (music)|band , founded in 1980.
Shakatak scored a number of record chart|chart entries, including two Top 40|Top Ten Chart-topper|hits in the UK Singles Chart , "Night Birds" (1982) and "Down on the Street" (1984), plus a further 12 entries in the Guinness book of British Hit Singles. The group are still active and popular throughout the world, particularly in Japan and the Far East , and generally produce a new album every two years on JVC Records .
From their first release in August 1980, (the Bill Sharpe composition "Steppin'" on the Polydor Records|Polydor record label ), and their first album, ''Drivin' Hard'', the band's single (music)|singles and albums have entered the charts regularly.
Career
It was the release of "Easier Said Than Done" that gave the band the radio exposure needed for their first top-twenty hit. This record introduced their instrumental -unison human voice|vocal sound to a much wider audience, and the track stayed in the United Kingdom|UK chart for seventeen weeks. The follow-up, " Night Birds (album)|Night Birds ", was their first single to reach the Top 40|top ten , and the album of the same name gave Shakatak their first music recording sales certification|gold album , entering at number four and remaining in the charts for twenty-eight weeks. By now a major international act, the success of the release gave them the number-one jazz album slot in Japan, and attracted interest across Europe and South America . Night Birds was used in the feature film "Away We Go" directed by Sam Mendes and was used as the demonstration song on many Casio Piano Keyboards such as the Casio CT-460.
Two more albums & ndash; Invitations and Out of This World & ndash; were recorded in 1982 and 1983, resulting in several more chart hits, and paving the way for the next major breakthrough in the band's career. With a subtle change in musical direction, yet still retaining the band's identity, Jill Saward (formerly of Fusion Orchestra , Brandy and Citizen Gang) became their lead singer to make Shakatak's fifth album, Down on the Street . The resulting single releases "Down on the Street" and "Watching You" had great success, and brought them attention in new parts of the world. The following year saw the release of the group's first live album , which was recorded in both Tokyo and London .
The seventh album, Day by Day , saw the development of songwriter|songwriting by all of the band members. In 1986 Saward announced that she was expecting a baby later the same year. This news allowed the band to ease their hectic touring schedule for a while, and enabled them to concentrate purely on recording for a brief period. The band were in the top five foreign acts in Japan, and after winning the coveted Silver Award in the Tokyo International Song Festival, Shakatak were asked to produce an extra album each year exclusively for the Japanese market. By this time they had two extra albums released there entitled Into the Blue and Golden Wings . Both sold well, the latter winning the "Best Instrumental Album 1987" at the Japanese Phonograph Record Association Awards.
However, following this success the band felt it was time that they re-directed their efforts back to singles, and an album for release to the rest of the world. The result was Something Special , closely followed by the night club and chart hit "Mr Manic & Sister Cool" from their next Gramophone record|LP , Manic and Cool .
In the 1990s, the band had success in the United States|US when they had two albums that went to No 1 in the contemporary jazz charts, and were also awarded the Japanese grammy for best international instrumental album six years running.
Shakatak continue to appear regularly throughout the world with recent festival performances at Jakjazz, the Jakata International Jazz Festival, Bangkok, Hua Hin and the Bratislava Jazz Day and they make annual appearances at the Billboard Clubs in Japan and the Pizza Express Jazz Room in London plus numerous other concert and club performances.
The band celebrated their thirtieth anniversary year in 2010.
Bill Sharpe (musician)|Bill Sharpe & mdash; Keyboard instrument|keyboards http://www.billsharpe.com Bill Sharpe web site
Roger Odell & mdash; Drum kit|drums http://www.rogerodell.co.uk Roger Odell web site http://www.drumatak.fsnet.co.uk/biog.htm Roger Odell biography, www.drumatak.fsnet.co.uk
George Anderson & mdash; Bass guitar|bass http://www.gabass.co.uk George Anderson web site
Keith Winter & mdash; electric guitar on all albums until early 1990s. A founding member of the band, Winter had to give up playing guitar due to serious nerve damage, although he stayed in close contact with the band and As of|2007|lc=on has just started to play again after eighteen years.
Steve Underwood & mdash; bass guitar on the album ''Drivin' Hard
Jackie Rawe & mdash; vocals on the first three albums http://www.jackierawe.com/ Jackie Rawe web site
Dick Morrissey & mdash; saxophone s on Night Birds and Invitations
Nigel Wright (record producer)|Nigel Wright & mdash; keyboards; (producer of Night Birds )
Tracey Ackerman & mdash; backing vocals on City Rhythm , Manic and Cool , and Open Your Eyes
Discography
Albums
1981: '' Drivin' Hard
1982: Night Birds (album)|Night Birds
1982: Invitations
1983: Out of This World (Shakatak album)|Out of This World
1984: Down on the Street
1984: Shakatak Live in Japan (live)
1985: Live! (February 1985) (live)
1985: City Rhythm
1986: Into the Blue (Issued in Japan only)
1987: Golden Wings (Issued in Japan only)
1988: Manic and Cool
1988: Da Makani (Issued in Japan only)
1988: The Very Best of Shakatak
1989: Niteflite (Issued in Japan only)
1989: Turn the Music Up
1990: Fiesta (Issued in Japan only)
1990: Christmas Eve (Issued in Japan only)
1991: Bitter Sweet
1991: Utopia (Issued in Japan only)
1993: Street Level
1993: Under the Sun
1993: The Christmas Album
1994: Full Circle
1997: Let The Piano Play
1998: View From The City
1998: ''Live at Ronnie Scott's
2001: Under Your Spell
2003: Blue Savannah
2005: Easier Said Than Done (live album)
2005: Beautiful Day
2007: Emotionally Blue
2009: Afterglow
2011: Across The World
Compilations
1988: The Coolest Cuts
1990: Perfect Smile (Issued in the US only)
1991: Open Your Eyes (Issued in the US only, with 1 brand new track Hungry )
1991: Remix Best Album
1991: Night Moves
1996: The Collection
1996: Jazz Connections Volumes 1-6 (6 compilation albums of their exclusive Japanese albums from the 80's and early 90's)
1998: ''Shinin' On
1999: Magic
1999: Jazz In The Night
2000: The Collection Volume 2
2002: Dinner Jazz
2003: Smooth Solos
2008: The Best Of Shakatak
2008: The Ultimate Collection
2009: The Coolest Cuts 12" Mixes Volume 1
2009: The Coolest Cuts 12" Mixes Volume 2
A three-part compilation album set, compiled by Roger Odell:
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p7517/biography|pure_url=yes Shakatak biography at the Allmusic website
http://www.maxwoodmusic.com Licensing of Shakatak Masters - Maxwood Music website
Category:British jazz ensembles Category:Smooth jazz ensembles Category:British boogie musicians Category:Crossover (music) Category:British funk musical groups
