Words by: Jason Hortillas

If you don’t know who Leon Michels is, you sure know what he sounds like. As a producer, he has worked on Grammy award winning albums by Adele and Amy Winehouse, in addition to working with hip-hop producers like Just Blaze. As a saxophonist, Michels created the horn line for “Roc Boys,” the lead single off of Jay-Z’s American Gangster. As the front man of El Michels Affair he released “Enter The 37th Chamber,” an instrumental album covering songs made famous by The Wu-Tang Clan. The album is the band’s sophomore effort on Fat Beats Records, applying their Funk and Soul roots to the gritty production of The RZA. In addition to backing Wu-Tang members like Raekwon and The Genius on stage, Michels runs his Truth & Soul Record Label. I spoke with the El Michels Affair co-founder and asked him about the new album and how it felt being forever linked to Hova.

What and who influenced you decide to pursue music and do it full time?
I was into Jazz at an early age. When I discovered artists like Lou Donaldson, The Meters, and James Brown I got obsessed with Soul music.  As far as what got me into music in the first place, I gotta give up to my elementary school music program.  I had good teachers who were inspiring and made me love music.

What drew you to reworking Wu-Tang songs as opposed to other artists?
We decided to cut re-workings of Wu-Tang songs after we had been paired with Raekwon for a series of concerts put on by Scion.  After the first show with Raekwon went so well that myself and co-founder of Truth & Soul, Jeff Silverman, decided to actually record instrumentals of the Wu’s music.

Were you initially nervous working with Raekwon on stage?
We were nervous how he would react to the live interpretations of his music.  There were moments when it got a little hairy on stage, but for the most part, all the Wu-tang guys were consumate professionals. 

What was your favorite song to perform on “Enter The 37th Chamber?”
I think the best Wu-tang song to play live, especially with the El Michels Affair line-up, was “Criminology” and “C.R.E.A.M.” 

What was your reaction when Jay-Z took your horn line for “Roc Boys?” How does it feel to be included on beat diggers’ playlists?
Even before that happened if you had asked me, “what MC would you want to have sample your music” I would’ve said Jay-Z.  That was an incredible moment, especially cause the horn line was pretty much the main focus of the “Roc Boys.” There are some great viral videos of little kids playing that horn line on alto sax, and violin, and bad Casio keyboards. 

Any other projects you working on in the future?
El Michels Affair just released a tribute to Isaac Hayes EP. Truth & Soul Records is putting together a re-issue project about the Ghetto Brothers album “Power Fuerza.” They were a 70′s gang/community organization from the South Bronx. Most recently, T&S just released Lee Fields & The Expression “My World” which was produced by myself and Jeff Silverman.

“Cinematic Soul” has been a description of your band’s sound.  If you could pick a classic movie from back it the day to score what would it be?
That’s a tough one. All my favorite movies from back in the day usually have the greatest scores already.  I think something like “Bullit” or “French Connection” would have been fun to score to.