Itaal Shur is an American composer, producer and musician. He has written songs for a number of musicians, including

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage o ...

, Jewel and

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By th ...

, and has produced records for various artists, including Kronos Quartet, The Scumfrog and Lucy Woodward. He was the founding member of the acid jazz group

Groove Collective Groove Collective is an American band. In 2007 they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year for the release ''People People Music Music'' on the Savoy Jazz label. Style Groove Collective was formed in 1990 ...

, and has released three solo albums. One of Shur's most notable works is the song " Smooth", which he co-wrote with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas for Santana's

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

winning album ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. "Smooth" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1999, and won Shur and Thomas the 1999

Grammy Award for Song of the Year The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at t ...

Early life and education

Shur was born in Los Angeles, California but was raised in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. His parents are the late Bonia Shur, who was a composer of Israeli and Jewish music and director of Liturgic Arts at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, who had emigrated to the United States from Russia via Israel, and Fanchon Wechsler Shur, born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, a former dancer and a choreographer. Shur attended middle school at The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in Cincinnati. He graduated from

Walnut Hills High School , streetaddress = 3250 Victory Parkway , city = Cincinnati , state = Ohio , zipcode = 45207 , country = United States , coordinates = , type ...

in Cincinnati, and studied jazz and composition for a year at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. In the early 1990s he joined a local

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

band called Sleep Theater with Rob Hamrick and Chris Sherman (later known as Freekbass).

Career

Shur moved to New York City in 1992 where, in between doing odd jobs, he played in a Moroccan band and performed at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

, an

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

venue. Then he switched to acid jazz and co-founded the acid jazz group

, featuring on their first two albums. Shur also began composing songs, and his first hit was "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which he co-wrote with

for Maxwell's 1996 debut album, '' Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite''. In the late 1990s Shur explored funk, techno and hip-hop, and released two solo albums under an alias Big Muff, which he took from the name of an old

Electro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of g ...

guitar distortion pedal, Big Muff. "My Funny Valentine" from his first album, ''Music From the Aural Exciter'' was a minor hit in the United Kingdom in 1998. But the song that launched Shur's career was " Smooth", which he co-wrote with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas for Santana's album ''

''. When he heard that Santana needed a song for their new album, Shur composed the song over a weekend. Thomas, who sang the lead vocals with Santana, wrote the song's lyrics.

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

's "samba-like guitar riff" on "Smooth" was "note-for-note" as Shur had written it. "Smooth" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1999, and won Shur and Thomas the 1999

. ''Supernatural'' also won a

in 1999 for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

. Shur released another solo album, ''Milk & Honey – 10 Hits To Bliss'' in 2001, this time under his real name. He also produced a number of albums for various artists, including Kronos Quartet, Hinda Hicks, Mark Farina, Lighthouse Family, The Scumfrog and Lucy Woodward. Shur has since established his own artist development and production company.

Solo discography

* ''Music From the Aural Exciter'' (1998, Snapt Records) – released under the alias Big Muff * ''Aurally Exciting Remixes'' (2000, Razor & Tie) – released under the alias Big Muff * ''Milk & Honey – 10 Hits to Bliss'' (2001, Wave Music)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shur, Itaal Year of birth missing (living people) American people of Israeli descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Grammy Award winners Living people Musicians from Greater Los Angeles Musicians from Cincinnati Repercussions (band) members Songwriters from California Groove Collective members