Jaymz Bee
Template:Infobox musical artist Jaymz Bee (born April 13, 1963) is a Canadian musician, writer, emcee<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and radio personality based in Toronto, Ontario.<ref>"Loft hits the right note". Toronto Star, Kathryn Kates. April 7, 2007</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Jaymz was raised in North Bay, Ontario.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club at Inglenook Community High School and of the punk band Bee People.<ref name="East End Designs Canada">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "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.'"<ref name="havenot">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Early careerEdit
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.<ref name="havenot"/>Template:Rp "'[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.'"<ref name="havenot"/>Template:Rp After three years he and Scott returned to Toronto.Template:Rp The duo recruited new members and continued to perform as Look People until April 1994.Template:Citation needed
In 1992, Bee became the musical director for Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui when Look People became its house band.<ref name="Myers2007">Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1994,<ref>Template:Discogs label</ref>Template:Better source needed Bee and Melleny Melody formed an independent label called "Nepotism Records".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bee formed "Jaymz Bee and the Royal Jelly Orchestra" and recorded the group's first lounge music album in 1995.<ref name="Delich2013">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="McPhee2009">Template:Cite book</ref>
Recent careerEdit
In 1997, Bee published the book Cocktail Parties for Dummies,<ref name="GregorCridland1998">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="Delich2013" /><ref>"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.</ref> 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,<ref>Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, "POT POURRI", The Wholenote, Sep. 26, 2018</ref> which reached #17 on the Canadian campus radio jazz chart in December.<ref>!earshot, "!earshot - december 2018 - top 20 jazz", !earshot, December 2018.</ref>
FilmsEdit
Bee appeared in Say Nothing (2001), Heatscore (2002), Dom (2004), and Five Course Meal (2018). Template:Cn
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.<ref>Toronto Mike'd Podcast, [1], Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 851: Retrontario</ref>
In 2023, Bee directed three short films: Wild Music, Beat Speak, and Artists & Aliens<ref> IMDb listing for Wild Music https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27987227/?ref_=nm_knf_t_1 </ref>
In February 2024, he began directing his first full-length feature film