TOWA TEI

Japanese-born DJ Towa Tei first earned notice for his production work on the Jungle Brothers' 1989 LP Done by the Forces of Nature; the following year he shot to fame as a member of the downtown New York club trio Deee-Lite, scoring an international hit with the classic "Groove Is in the Heart." After two LP's, 1990's World Clique and 1992's Infinity Within, Towa Tei left the group to begin working on solo projects; his debut LP Future Listening!, a montage of bossa nova, jazz and electronic dance music, appeared in 1995. His second album for Elektra, 1998's Sound Museum, was followed by Last Century Modern in 1999.