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Artist News
Music community pays tribute to Maxi Jazz
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 27 December 2022
Maxi Jazz’s musical collaborators have led the tributes for the Faithless singer whose death was confirmed just before Christmas.
A statement was published on Maxi Jazz’s Instagram profile on Christmas Eve confirming that the musician – real name Maxwell Fraser – died on 23 Dec. The statement was signed by fellow founder and current Faithless members Rollo and Sister Bliss, as well as Fraser’s more recent group The E-Type Boys.
It said: “We are heartbroken to say Maxi Jazz died peacefully at his home in South London last night. He was a man who changed our lives in so many ways. He gave proper meaning and message to our music”.
“He was also a lovely human being with time for everyone and a wisdom that was both profound and accessible”, the statement continued. “It was an honour and, of course, a true pleasure to work with him”.
Fraser’s fellow music-makers then concluded: “He was a brilliant lyricist, a DJ, a Buddhist, a magnificent stage presence, car lover, endless talker, beautiful person, moral compass and genius”.
Sister Bliss also paid tribute to her former bandmate on her own Twitter profile, where she also added: “Sending love to all of you who shared our musical journey – look after each other y’hear”.
Meanwhile Dido, who collaborated with Faithless of course, wrote on Twitter: “It was an absolute honour to know you, be inspired by you, listen to you and sing with you. Your voice and words will never leave my head”.
Born in Brixton in 1957, Fraser began DJing and then performing via his Soul Food Cafe sound system and band in the 1980s, while also presenting a hip hop show on pirate radio station Reach FM and launching a label to release his group’s music.
He then teamed up with Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss and Jamie Catto to form the pioneering dance music outfit Faithless in 1995, with their first album – ‘Reverence’ – released the following year, containing the hit records ‘Insomnia’ and ‘Salva Mea’.
The Mercury nominated follow up album ‘Sunday 8PM’ was released in 1998, with the band continuing to make new music and tour extensively in the following decade before going on hiatus in 2011.
Fraser rejoined his Faithless bandmates a few years later for shows to promote the 2015 remix album ‘Faithless 2.0’, although he was not involved in the group’s more recent album ‘All Blessed’.
Instead, in more recent years he performed with another musical project he had founded, that being Maxi Jazz & The E-Type Boys.
Many artists and DJs from across the dance music community paid tribute to Fraser over the Christmas break.
That included Pete Tong, who described Fraser as “a poet, a gentleman and a true original, who together with Faithless made a handful of tunes that define both club culture and a generation. In a hundred years time if someone asks what all the fuss was about in 1996, just play them ‘Insomnia’, job done”.
DJ Dave Pearce added on Twitter: “Faithless were an iconic force in UK dance music from the mid 90s and touched so many lives. Throughout their meteoric rise to fame Maxi remained a warm, cool, friendly soul – dance music’s poet – thoughts with his family and friends RIP”.
And Mistajam tweeted: “I only met him IRL once and he was the kindest man with such an aura about him. His words and performances touched so many of us and he’ll be sorely missed. Love to Sister Bliss and the whole Faithless family. Rest in power Maxi Jazz”.
