Post Description

Kashif Saleem (born Michael Jones in 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer. Kashif discovered his artistic gifts at age seven when he first taught himself to play a $3 song flute and later the piano in the basement of his church. As he moved from family to family, music became a comforting refuge and the only common thread in the young boy's unstable life. At age 15, Kashif's musical skills took him through the door to a brighter future. He joined BT Express and performed on stages around the world. He studied Islam and changed his name from Michael Jones to Kashif, which means discoverer and inventor. He crafted his own distinctive sound and later signed with Arista Records enjoying success as a solo artist.

Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group. After leaving the band in the early 1980s, Kashif recorded demos with the band Stepping Stone, which led to his eventual solo signing with Arista Records.

Introduced to Arista by Gerry Griffith, its A&R director in 1983, his self-titled debut Kashif (1983) spawned the hits "I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)," "Stone Love," "Help Yourself to My Love," and "Say Something Love." With this release, Kashif was well received as an innovator in music, as R&B artists were only beginning to experiment with synthesizers and other electronic instruments. He is said to have been Arista Records' attempt to respond to Warner Bros. Records' Prince.

His other albums include Send Me Your Love and Condition of the Heart. On the album Love Changes, Exposé provided background vocals. 1989's Kashif, with the cover of the Four Tops' hit "Ain't No Woman Like the One I Got," "Baby Don't Break Your Baby's Heart," and "Are You the Woman."

As an in-demand writer/producer, Kashif can be heard on releases by Kenny G, George Benson, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Johnny Kemp, Melba Moore, Dionne Warwick, Giorge Pettus, Stacy Lattisaw, Exposé, The Wootens, Freda Payne, Whitney Houston, and others. His Grammy nominations are for the instrumentals "The Mood," "Call Me Tonight," "Edgartown Groove" featuring Al Jarreau, and "The Movie Song."

In 1994, Kashif received an invitation from the U.C.L.A. Extension program and created a course called Contemporary Record Production with Kashif. In August 1995, Kashif authored a book entitled Everything You'd Better Know About the Record Industry, as CEO of his Los Angeles-based Brooklyn Boy Books, Entertainment, and Information. In 1998, Kashif signed with U.K. label Expansion Records and his album Who Loves You was released that same year.

Ingepakt zijn:

1983 Kashif (2007 re-mastered)
1984 Send Me Your Love 
1985 Condition Of The Heart 
1987 Love Changes 
1989 Kashif
1994 The Best Of Kashif
1998 Who Loves You? 
1998 The Definitive Collection
2002 Best Of Kashif
2004 Music From My Mind