Najee

Born in New York as Jerome Najee Rasheed, Najee grew up between Manhattan’s Lower West Side and Queens, where he began music as a child on clarinet before focusing on saxophone and flute. Trained through the Jazzmobile program and later at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Najee developed a style rooted in contemporary jazz, smooth jazz, R&B and soul, marked by a melodic, fluid approach that moves between saxophone and flute. After early stage appearances with Ben E. King in the late 1970s and a tour with Chaka Khan in 1983, Najee launched his solo career with Najee’s Theme in 1986, followed by Day by Day (1988) and Tokyo Blue (1990) — three albums that established his repertoire at the crossroads of urban groove and accessible jazz writing. Over the years he pursued solo projects and collaborations with Freddie Jackson, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Will Downing and Prince, whom he accompanied from 2000 to 2003 and with whom he appears on The Rainbow Children (2001). His discography also includes Just an Illusion (1992), Share My World (1994), Morning Tenderness (1998), My Point of View (2005), Mind Over Matter (2009), The Smooth Side of Soul (2012) and Savoir Faire (2022).