Jaymz Bee
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Jaymz Bee
| image =
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| background = solo_singer
| birth_name =
| native_name = James Terrence Shamus O'Malley Lyola Doyle
| native_name_lang =
| alias = Jaymz Bee
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|04|13}}
| birth_place = North Bay, Ontario, Canada
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| genre =
| occupation = Musician, writer, radio personality
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| years_active = 1985-present
| label =
| associated_acts = Bee People, Look People, Royal Jelly Orchestra, The Deep Lounge Coalition{{Discogs artist|The Deep Lounge Coalition|The Deep Lounge Coalition}}
| website = {{URL|http://www.jaymzbee.ca}}
}}
Jaymz Bee (born April 13, 1963) is a Canadian musician, writer, emcee{{cite book|title=Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bM3AQAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=L.O.C. Associates|page=52}} and radio personality based in Toronto, Ontario.[https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/04/07/loft_hits_the_right_note.html "Loft hits the right note"]. Toronto Star, Kathryn Kates. April 7, 2007
Early life
Jaymz was raised in North Bay, Ontario.{{cite web|title=A Conversation With ... Jaymz Bee|url=https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2016/11/04/conversation-jaymz-bee|website=FYI Music News|date=November 4, 2016|first=Bill |last=King}} He was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club at Inglenook Community High School and of the punk band Bee People.{{cite web |url=https://nowtoronto.com/news/al-waxman-1935-2001 |title=Al Waxman, 1935-2001 |first=Jaymz |last=Bee |date=Jan 25, 2001 |publisher=Now Magazine}} "Bee had a fixation on [Waxman]... '[W]e only dressed in black and yellow and we only sang songs about Al Waxman: about his dog, his movies, his life, anything we could think of. We ended up with an hour-long show, just about Al Waxman.'"{{cite book|title=Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985-1995|first1=Michael |last1=Barclay |first2=Jason |last2=Schneider |first3=Ian A.D. |last3=Jack |date=2011 |publisher=ECW Press}}{{rp|218}}
Early career
In 1985, Bee and his drummer Bob Scott joined members of a defunct Swiss band to form the alternative rock band Look People and left for Switzerland.{{rp|218}} "'[W]e were a weird band that shouldn’t even be able to sell a record, and we were getting huge tours opening for Los Lobos or Bob Geldof or Wishbone Ash or Uriah Heep in stadiums.'"{{rp|219}} After three years he and Scott returned to Toronto.{{rp|219}} The duo recruited new members and continued to perform as Look People until April 1994.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
In 1992, Bee became the musical director for Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui when Look People became its house band.{{cite book|author=Paul Myers|title=Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts, Private Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTRuJKlUoHcC&pg=PA138|date=November 1, 2007|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4165-8736-1|pages=138–}}
In 1994,{{Discogs label|Nepotism|Nepotism Records}}{{Better source needed|date=August 2021}} Bee and Melleny Melody formed an independent label called "Nepotism Records".{{cite web|title=Playing Deep:The Ballad of Melleny Melody|url=https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2016/06/17/playing-deepthe-ballad-melleny-melody|date=June 17, 2016 |first=Nick |last=Krewen |website=FYI Music News}}
Bee formed "Jaymz Bee and the Royal Jelly Orchestra" and recorded the group's first lounge music album in 1995.{{cite book|author=Beverly Delich|title=Come Fly with Me: Michael Bublé's Rise to Stardom, a Memoir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E26qBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT91|date=October 25, 2013|publisher=D & M Publishers|isbn=978-1-77162-007-9|pages=91–}}{{cite book|author=Peter McPhee|title=Carnival: A Scream in High Park Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfZw2-4jqi0C&pg=PA181|date=November 8, 2009|publisher=Insomniac Press|isbn=978-1-897414-09-5|pages=181–}}
Recent career
In 1997, Bee published the book Cocktail Parties for Dummies,{{cite book|author1=Jan T. Gregor|author2=Tim Cridland|title=Circus of the scars: the true inside odyssey of a modern circus sideshow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TW61AAAAIAAJ|date=September 1998|publisher=Brennan Dalsgard|isbn=978-0-9663479-0-6|page=387}} and began hosting radio shows on Toronto's CFRB and CFMJ.
In 2002, Bee released a new album, produced by Dave Howard, Sub Urban by Jaymz Bee and the Deep Lounge Coalition and followed that with another Royal Jelly Orchestra release entitled Seriously Happy for Wychwood Productions. His last recording with the RJO was Toronto Launch Pad, recorded in 2006 for his own label, Timely Manor.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/qa-with-jazzfm91s-jaymz-bee-i-have-a-cinderella-clause-i-have-to-leave-the-club-by-midnight/article23796345/ "1-on-1 with Jazz.FM91’s Jaymz Bee: ‘I have a Cinderella clause. I have to leave the club by midnight’"]. Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail, April 3, 2015. For over a decade, Bee ran a PR firm called Bullhorn which turned into a personal monthly newsletter in 2016. Bee formed a pop group called Bonzai Suzuki with Dave Howard. Their self-titled debut was released in the summer of 2011 and their follow up recording called "Everything Leads To Everything Else". He collaborated with Carlos Peron (ex member of the band Yello) on an electronic dance recording called "Tuk" and most recently (2017) began writing and recording The Tiki Collective - a surf jazz band led by guitarist Eric St-Laurent. In 2018, this group released their debut album Muse,Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, [https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/potpourri/28281-muse-the-tiki-collective "POT POURRI"], The Wholenote, Sep. 26, 2018 which reached #17 on the Canadian campus radio jazz chart in December.!earshot, [http://www.earshot-online.com/charts/2018/December/jazz.cfm/ "!earshot - december 2018 - top 20 jazz"], !earshot, December 2018.
Films
Bee appeared in Say Nothing (2001), Heatscore (2002), Dom (2004), and Five Course Meal (2018). {{cn|date=February 2024}}
In 2021, it was revealed that a documentary about Bee's life (working title: Being Bee) is currently being produced. Collaborators on the project include the team at Retrontario and Joel Goldberg, notable for his work on Electric Circus and directing music videos for rapper Maestro.Toronto Mike'd Podcast, [https://www.torontomike.com/2021/05/toronto-miked-podcast-episode-851-retrontario], Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 851: Retrontario
In 2023, Bee directed three short films: Wild Music, Beat Speak, and Artists & Aliens IMDb listing for Wild Music https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27987227/?ref_=nm_knf_t_1
In February 2024, he began directing his first full-length feature film
External links
- {{official website|http://www.jaymzbee.ca}}
References
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Category:Canadian rock singers
Category:Musicians from North Bay, Ontario