SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ was born George Adotey Baffour (www.george-a-baffour.blogspot.com) in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, on Wednesday the 10th of September 1980. An Oceanographer and Fisheries Scientist by training, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Degree in Oceanography and Fisheries, as well as a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) Degree in Fisheries Science, and has held several positions in scientific and research institutes and consultancies in Accra. George A. Baffour (SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ) is also a writer and is the author of the 2008 science-fiction/fantasy novel, ‘Bubble Joe and his fantastic journeys to Zapokrepit in the Land of the Day and a Half’ (available at lulu.com [www.stores.lulu.com/george_a_baffour], amazon.com, and Barnes & Nobles, among others). SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ’s love of music began as a child when his mother, uncles and their peers would play good old soul, disco, and jazz, not forgetting Funk (especially George Clinton and Parliament). In secondary school the young SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ was enrolled in the after-school piano program at Music Mosaic Ltd, a music school in Accra, where he sat and passed his ABRSM piano examinations up to Grade 5. After senior secondary school in Ghana, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ flew to the United States as an AFS exchange student to the little town of Libby in Montana. George’s involvement in music continued in his one term of 12th Grade at Libby High School where he was a member of all three school choirs and joined a quartet that went on to qualify to compete at State Level. Returning to Ghana, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ was enrolled at the University of Ghana but during the long summer vacations, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ returned to Music Mosaic to teach. He set up a little choir and most importantly self-taught himself MIDI studio engineering in order to teach a course on basic studio engineering to the kids. This gave SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ the power and know-how to bring the music in his mind into reality. Suddenly, he found himself able to compose the instrumentals for his songs on the computer and able to book studio time to begin recording his dream songs. This resulted in several songs he recorded from the computer onto cassette, many of which got faded with time, or got deleted with computer crashes (done while sneaking time off the computer at Music Mosaic) but did not get properly recorded in the studio. In 2005, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ and his younger brother Eric (another fantastic singer) performed at POPCHAIN NOSTALGIA 2005 (a reincarnation of an extinct Old High School Bands Competition performed by the grown-up bandsmen themselves, including the nationally famous Shasha Marley) where they were introduced as the Systematic Funk Mechanics. Backed by the well-known local band Desmond and the Alpha Waves, the Systematic Funk Mechanics sang old tunes by Otis Redding, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Bob Marley and Sly and the Family Stone. In time, the Systematic Funk Mechanics recorded two soundtrack instrumental songs for Tropical VisionStorm Ltd, a television production and media consulting company. In 2008, the SYSTEMATIC FUNK MECHANICS were introduced to the founders of a new fledgling record company, Aficari Records, and decided to come on board the label as independent artists, retaining the rights to all their songs, and officially changed their name to STREET-N-CODE. By mid 2009, most artistes on the label were still working on their first singles and STREET-N-CODE had collaborated on a song with KB 4 Angels and Kei-1 and performed at several high profile clubs but still hadn’t done their own individual songs in their own style unhindered. SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ (formerly known as CODE) and his younger brother STREET decided to work on their separate concept albums and market themselves to an international audience by together aiming to get signed to a bigger record label outside Ghana that would be able to market their international world music sounds. SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ is currently working on recording his many songs written over the years. He copyrights them, distributes them on the internet and hopes to gain the attention of an international label. SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ’s music is a blend and result of many varying influences. From childhood through to adulthood SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ was heavily influenced by the music of old soul and disco greats like Barry White, Love Unlimited, The love Unlimited Orchestra, Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, the Bee Gees, George Benson, the Carpenters, Heatwave, Earth, Winds and Fire, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Bruce Springsteen, and of course, the unforgettable, Michael Jackson. Glenn Campbell, Al Green Later in life, SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ got drawn deeper into deep jazz works by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, George and Ira Gershwin, Nat King Cole, Cole Porter, Astrid Gilberto, and the big bands. Contemporary influences include Coldplay, Keane, the Lemon Jellies, Alicia Keys, the Lighthouse Family, Macey Gray, Outkast, Seal, Jamiroquai, Lemar, Freshly Ground, and Asha.

SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ’s music is a blend and result of many varying influences. From childhood through to adulthood SOULKNIGHT-JAZZ was heavily influenced by the music of old soul and disco greats like Barry White, Love Unlimited, The love Unlimited Orchestra, Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, the Bee Gees, George Benson, the Carpenters, Heatwave, Earth, Winds and Fire, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Bruce Springsteen, and of course, the unforgettable legend, Michael