Itaal Shur (born October 22, 1966) 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 of N ...

, 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 label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

, and has produced records for various artists, including

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

The Scumfrog The Scumfrog (Jesse Houk) (born October 3, 1971) is a Dutch-American DJ/remixer/ producer/artist, mostly known for his underground flavored remixes of artists like Kylie Minogue, Missy Elliott, New Order, and Annie Lennox and his collaborations ...

and

Lucy Woodward Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has released records on Atlantic, Verve, and GroundUP and has sung with many artists including Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Snarky Puppy, Celine Dion, Pink Martini, Gavin DeGraw, ...

. He was the founding member of the

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

group Groove Collective, 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 Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning album ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. "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 ...

Early life and education

Shur was born in Los Angeles, California on October 22, 1966 but was raised in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. 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 Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

in Cincinnati who had emigrated to the United States from Russia via Israel, and Fanchon Wechsler Shur, born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, a former dancer and choreographer. Shur attended middle school at The

School for Creative and Performing Arts A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

(SCPA) in Cincinnati. He graduated from

Walnut Hills High School Walnut Hills High School is a public college-preparatory high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Operated by Cincinnati Public Schools, it houses grades seven through twelve. The school was established in 1895 and has occupied its current building s ...

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 ar ...

band called Sleep Theatre 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, an

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") 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 the late 1 ...

venue. Then he switched to

and co-founded the acid jazz group Groove Collective, 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. The song that launched Shur's career was " Smooth", which he co-wrote with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas for

's album ''

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

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

'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. 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

, Hinda Hicks, Mark Farina,

Lighthouse Family Lighthouse Family were a British pop soul duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and initially remained active until the early 2000s. Singer Tunde Baiyewu and songwriter Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, ...

and

. 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 Walnut Hills High School alumni