“What a kick surprise to hear you flowing over the great American songbook. It's terrific and nobody but nobody that I've heard has rolled Jazz, real melody, great songs and a message from the center of your chest laying on top. It's unique and really enjoyable. It's headed for the player in my car.
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Oscar Winner/Multi-platinum songwriter Paul Williams , jafunk reviews
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Nate Lombardi proved that it's possible to mix jazz, pop and hip-hop, with a little beat-box thrown in for good measure! Where DO they come from?!
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Jim Caruso-Birdland’s Cast Party , jafunk reviews
“...comparisons between jaFúnK front man NateKid and Eminem are inevitable. But, the color of their skin notwithstanding, the rappers are as different as night and day. On his stellar debut, "jaFúnK," NateKid accentuates the positive, eschewing hate rhetoric in favor of feel-good rhymes that, despite their sensitivity and insight, do nothing to handicap the future pin-up’s macho swagger. He’s a bona fide music lover — an aficionado of classic jazz, no less — and wears his heart on his disc as well as his sleeve. Eight of the album’s tracks combine NateKid’s original wordplay with alternately reverent and inventive renderings of retro songs by the likes of Irving Berlin and Louis Prima. The result? Fabulous, period.... it’s a miraculous marriage of the urban and the urbane, an ultramodern, and refreshingly respectful, rejiggering of tunes that have bypassed whole generations. ”
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Chailie Mason, contributing editor to Time Out and TV guide, jafunk reviews
"NateKid skips across genres and decades as breezily as the rest of us cross the street. He's a jaywalker of musical worlds, his jaunts weaving unique and creative blends of sound -- one song alone finds Natekid rapping and scatting through an intersection bustling with backbeats, the strains of "Rhapsody in Blue," the call-and-response of "Minnie the Moocher" and the pop-and-hiss of beatboxing. In another, his lyrics put other rappers on notice: "Music's coming back, it takes talent you don't have, see?" Now whether other rappers will fall in his wake, who knows? But Natekid has got talent."
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Danny Freedman- freelance journalist (the New York Times, Popular Science, other, jafunk reviews
“I love it. I’ll tell you the truth, and I hate rap…it isn’t rap, it’s jaFunK.
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John “ChaCha”Ciarcia Sirus Radio (WiseGuys), jafunk reviews
“NATEKid is one of those artists that’s here to change the face of music. Lately we've had Amy Winehouse & John Legend who, through brilliant musicianship, reintroduce classic sounds in a completely accessible way. These artists make music for our youthful MTV generation, but with the ingenuity that real musicians and music champions can get excited about. He has an incredible range of talent, I’ m looking forward to directing him in an MTV video and seeing him as an actor in the upcoming movie roles he's slated for."
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Marty Thomas Director MTV/RIDICULOUS Pictures (VMA/BET Award winner) , jafunk reviews
"jaFúnK takes a new, wonderful, joyful perspective on the American musical genius of the 20th century.... the music of the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen... and then adds their own insightful music reflecting the spirit of the new century ..... It's delivered with spirit that will get to your heart and feet!.... Hip hop... jazz.... pop.... it's really what Duke Ellington meant when he said something's are " beyond category!"
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Dick Golden- XM satellite radio and Cape Cod’s Ocean 104 , jafunk reviews
““NATEKid’s unique vision introduces the young and exciting fans of hip-hop to the traditional standards of the jazz world. With his versatile arrangements, witty lyrics and rich tone, he has found a way to fuse the two worlds seamlessly and has created a fresh, new sound that makes you think that these two styles of music are long, lost soul mates.”
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Tony & Emmy Award winning producer Jennifer Maloney , jafunk reviews
“Nate is a talented music mogul who is inspired by the old and the new. He is among the cutting edge of a major new direction in the evolution of hip hop and it's connection to jazz and music of the past. Jazz has been termed as America's form of original music. Today's genres of music have their birth place there. Follow the evolution from Plantation call and response, gospel, blues, blue grass, country & western, ragtime, swing, bebop, rhythm & blues, off shots of the aforementioned, including hip hop and you will see the development of music based on the lives and experiences of the people that lived it .Where we have fallen short is connecting the dots with our music from one generation to the next. Nate is a connector. The thrust of his music facilitates an appreciation of music by all generations. People no longer have to segment themselves from the music of the young or music of the old. Facilitators, like Nate close the generation gap and open the music to us all.
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Eric Frazier- Jazz Journalist, (Jazz Improv) Author , jafunk reviews
“.... Then I listened, and I listened again... I played selected tracks to friends. It was refreshing to hear the minimal use of the beat-box and Pro- tools without all the dominant electronics & hip hop anger that gets verbalized in their lyrics. Those of us who have spent years in urban education teaching & training see this as a positive creative outlet as an antidote to racial discrimination, for the Afro-American and Aboriginal adolescent facing a life of poverty, drug use, incarceration and early deaths in custody. The arrival of Eminem and now NATEKid who lives in Harlem, New York, is no accident. This is pure musical innovation and would have had the original composers NOT turning in their graves BUT sitting up and jumping for joy that their music has contemporary relevance and is living on, in the music of genuine young innovators. NATEKid is keeping up a musical tradition, and connecting the dots by making the music meaningful to his generation. ”
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Helen Simons Announcer/Producer/Reviewer Community Station Broadcaster, jafunk reviews
“(to listeners) Isn’t that sensational?? (to Nate) You’re Great…Highly original, a really talented guy.
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Joey Reynolds WOR 790 AM (6 million listeners) , jafunk reviews
““The Harlem Renaissance forges a seductive partnership with Hip hop on jaFunK’s debut album. NateKid, a musician based in Harlem, mixes the lyrics about his life and passions with the classic jazz melodies. The messages and taunt musical arrangements are uplifting. The band is surprisingly successful at blending the two seemingly divergent worlds. NateKid captures the diverse sound spirit of modern urban life. At the same time the band is able to pump new energy into the horn sounds of New York City during the heyday of the Cotton Club. JaFunK’s first effort is an adventurous hybrid where the influences of musical pioneers from John Coltrane to KRS-ONE find common ground. It’s definitely worth a listen.”
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Dan Russo- WMUH Allentown , jaufunk reviews
“ “NateKid's CD is more than just a mix of hip hop, jazz, and funk. It's takes something more to blend these elements together and achieve a style that is greater than the sum of its parts. NateKid's playing a game of hit and run, allowing his personality to shine thru each song and having fun with what he's doing. Using his love for ballads and the old musicals, as well as the roots of hip hop, NateKid pays respect to the crooners and rappers of old, while at the same time, adding a fresh vibe that takes each style to a new level. Vocally, NateKid is smooth and vibrant; you feel him come right 'atcha and you can't help but smile and feel every word right along with him.”
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Michael Cuozzo- Director of Gravity, UPN 9, jafunk reviews
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Soul Train Line So Emotional Whitney Houston http://t.co/CGrbZcO5
