El Michels Affair

El Michels Affair is an American cinematic soul group led by musician and producer Leon Michels. Based in New York, the group is noted for its wide-ranging influences, analog production approach, and hip hop collaborations. The group released its debut album Sounding Out the City in 2005. After touring behind Raekwon and other Wu-Tang Clan members, the group recorded the popular cover album Enter the 37th Chamber in 2009. After releasing other tribute albums in the following decade, El Michels Affair returned with the original albums Adult Themes in 2020 and Yeti Season in 2021. Since then, the group has released collaborative projects with Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Liam Bailey, and Black Thought, including 2023's Glorious Game.

History

Michels played with Soul Fire Records house band The Mighty Imperials before forming his own ensemble in 2002. This group released singles for Soul Fire and for Misty, a sublabel of Daptone Records, as well as a full-length album which was released on the Michels-cofounded label Truth & Soul Records in 2005. Titled Sounding Out the City, the album drew from library music and afrobeat influences. After performing with Raekwon at a concert, the group began working with other members of the Wu-Tang Clan and covered several of their songs for vinyl single releases. By 2009, this had yielded an album's worth of material, which was released in 2009 as Enter the 37th Chamber, the name is a play on the album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). El Michels Affair followed this with a second album of arrangements of songs by Wu-Tang Clan and from its members' solo releases, titled Return to the 37th Chamber.

In 2019, they accompanied Freddie Gibbs and Madlib at their popular NPR Tiny Desk performance and later recorded The Diamond Mine Sessions with them.

El Michels Affair began the 2020s with new original material; they released their album Adult Themes in 2020 and followed it less than a year later with the Turkish pop and prog-inspired Yeti Season in March 2021; the album features vocals from Hindi language singer Piya Malik and The Shacks.

Personnel

• Leon Michels – bandleader and producer, tenor saxophone, flute, keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion, engineering

Other contributors include:

• Homer Steinweiss – drums
• Nick Movshon – bass, drums, guitar
• Thomas Brenneck – guitar, bass
• Michael Leonhart – trumpet, brass
• Toby Pazner – keyboards
• Aaron Johnson – trombone
• Sean Solomon – guitar
• Dave Guy – trumpet
• Marco Benevento – keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

Tribute & remix albums

EPs

Singles

See also

• Menahan Street Band

References

1. Leon Michels
2. Glorious Game
3. Nick Movshon
4. Menahan Street Band
5. Truth and Soul Records
6. Homer Steinweiss
7. Dave Guy
8. Thomas Brenneck
9. Say She She
10. Michael Leonhart
11. We Are Lady Parts
12. Chef (soundtrack)
13. List of jam bands
14. Victor (Vic Mensa album)
15. Bandana (album)
16. Liam Bailey
17. TM (album)
18. Lee Fields
19. Black Thought
20. Afrobeat