JJ Whitefield

JJ Whitefield is the alias used by guitarist, composer, producer, and bandleader Jan Weissenfeldt. Since the 1990s he has relentlessly pursued the muse using numerous styles, genres, and recordings with a plethora of identities. He initially explored '70s street funk with Poets of Rhythm on 1999's Practice What You Preach. He also founded the Whitefield Brothers with drummer/brother Max to explore psychedelic R&B and Afrobeat. He later created the ethno-funk outfit Karl Hector & the Malcouns whose 2008 debut, Sahara Swing, registered on club dancefloors from Germany and India to the Americas. This group issued a handful of singles and the albums Unstraight Ahead (2014) and Non Ex Orbis (2019). In 2019 he also issued his debut solo album, Brother All Alone. In 2023 he released Ethio Meditations/Drama al Dente, as well as the psychedelic funky fusion set Puzzled. In 2024, he explored the connections between spiritual jazz and underground R&B on The Infinity of Nothingness with his big band Forced Meditation.