| Jaymz Bee | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Native Name: | James Terrence Shamus O'Malley Lyola Doyle |
| Alias: | Jaymz Bee |
| Birth Date: | 13 April 1963 |
| Birth Place: | North Bay, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation: | Musician, writer, radio personality |
| Years Active: | 1985-present |
| Associated Acts: | Bee People, Look People, Royal Jelly Orchestra, The Deep Lounge Coalition |
Jaymz Bee (born April 13, 1963) is a Canadian musician, writer, emcee[1] and radio personality based in Toronto, Ontario.[2]
Jaymz was raised in North Bay, Ontario.[3] He was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club at Inglenook Community High School and of the punk band Bee People.[4] "Bee had a fixation on [Waxman]... '[W]e only dressed in black and yellow and we only sang songs about Al Waxman: about his dog, his movies, his life, anything we could think of. We ended up with an hour-long show, just about Al Waxman.'"[5]
In 1985, Bee and his drummer Bob Scott joined members of a defunct Swiss band to form the alternative rock band Look People and left for Switzerland.[5] "'[W]e were a weird band that shouldn’t even be able to sell a record, and we were getting huge tours opening for Los Lobos or Bob Geldof or Wishbone Ash or Uriah Heep in stadiums.'"[5] After three years he and Scott returned to Toronto. The duo recruited new members and continued to perform as Look People until April 1994.
In 1992, Bee became the musical director for Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui when Look People became its house band.[6]
In 1994, Bee and Melleny Melody formed an independent label called "Nepotism Records".[7]
Bee formed "Jaymz Bee and the Royal Jelly Orchestra" and recorded the group's first lounge music album in 1995.[8] [9]
In 1997, Bee published the book Cocktail Parties for Dummies,[10] and began hosting radio shows on Toronto's CFRB and CFMJ.
In 2002, Bee released a new album, produced by Dave Howard, Sub Urban by Jaymz Bee and the Deep Lounge Coalition and followed that with another Royal Jelly Orchestra release entitled Seriously Happy for Wychwood Productions. His last recording with the RJO was Toronto Launch Pad, recorded in 2006 for his own label, Timely Manor.[11] For over a decade, Bee ran a PR firm called Bullhorn which turned into a personal monthly newsletter in 2016. Bee formed a pop group called Bonzai Suzuki with Dave Howard. Their self-titled debut was released in the summer of 2011 and their follow up recording called "Everything Leads To Everything Else". He collaborated with Carlos Peron (ex member of the band Yello) on an electronic dance recording called "Tuk" and most recently (2017) began writing and recording The Tiki Collective - a surf jazz band led by guitarist Eric St-Laurent. In 2018, this group released their debut album Muse,[12] which reached #17 on the Canadian campus radio jazz chart in December.[13]
Bee appeared in Say Nothing (2001), Heatscore (2002), Dom (2004), and Five Course Meal (2018).
In 2021, it was revealed that a documentary about Bee's life (working title: Being Bee) is currently being produced. Collaborators on the project include the team at Retrontario and Joel Goldberg, notable for his work on Electric Circus and directing music videos for rapper Maestro.[14]
In 2023, Bee directed three short films: Wild Music, Beat Speak, and Artists & Aliens[15]
In February 2024, he began directing his first full-length feature film