Incognito
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Incognito debuted with the single Parisienne Girl and released the 1981 LP Jazz Funk, but was inactive during the rest of the 1980s. Maunick continued to write material for his group, even while working with Maxi Priest and others. (Williams later moved to Finland.) By the beginning of the 1990s, DJ legend and early Incognito fan Gilles Peterson had founded the Talkin Loud label and he made Incognito one of his first signings. The 1991 single Always There (with vocals by Jocelyn Brown) became a Top Ten hit as part of Britains booming acid jazz scene, prompting the release of Incognitos second album overall, Inside Life. It was largely a studio affair, with Maunick and engineer Simon Cotsworth directing a large cast with many of the best musicians in Britains fertile groove community.
With 1992s Tribes Vibes + Scribes, Maunick added a more established vocalist, the American Maysa Leak. A cover of Stevie Wonders Dont You Worry Bout a Thing became another Incognito hit, and the album ascended Britains pop charts even as it rose on Americas contemporary jazz charts. The third album, Positivity, became the groups biggest album success, with much attention across Europe as well as Britain. Leak unsuccessfully attempted a solo career with Blue Note, leading to the temporary vocal replacement Pamela Anderson (not the Baywatch pinup) on 1995s 100° and Rising. Leak returned, though, appearing on the following years Beneath the Surface.
Incognito later expanded its discography with 1996s Remixed, 1998s Tokyo Live, and 1999s No Time Like the Future. The groups next two albums were again made without Leak, 2001s Life Stranger Than Fiction and 2003s Who Needs Love, which featured Brazilian vocalist Ed Motta. Leak returned for 2004s Adventures in Black Sunshine. Bees + Flowers + Things appeared at the end of 2006. The album was a mix of cover versions along with re-recordings of four Incognito classics.
