Chris Jam

I grew up in a home filled with the voices of Nat King Cole, Jim Reeves, and Desmond Decker, Bob Marley, Chaka Khan, thus it was no surprise I became a DJ.

When I migrated to Manchester I hooked up with a man who had already carved out a niche for himself in the city this was Tomlin ‘Bluenote’ McKinley
in 1986 we formed the Jam Mcs.

We garnered a name for ourselves in Manchester’s emerging Dance culture, firstly through Blues Parties at the Kitchen housed in abandoned flats in Hulme that were reminiscent of a scene from Mad Max.

Eight years later I met Segun Lee French, and with the backing of Green Room Director Garfield Allen, created Speakeasy, an open mic night for spoken word artists and lyricists of all forms. Speakeasy has run for over ten years and nurtured many of the artists performing and work shopping regularly on Manchester extremely vibrant spoken word circuit.

I have also recorded music tracks such as the 2000 Blues (Rainy City Music) and Hungry Ghost (Grand Central Records), and most recently Mancunian Way which was recorded for a Hacienda compilation that was released in Japan. And i am currently gigging and recording with the effektuators.

I met Guy Perry three years ago through a shared passion for working with young people and language and was thrilled to get involved in wordsmith awards. Over the three years my role has increased and I am honoured to be project managing as well as still getting my mind blown by students from some of Manchesters most creative schools.

I am also smitten to have been given the opportunity to host Unity Radio’s Antidote breakfast show, and together myself, my co host Envy and our ever growing team are committed to delivering unique accessible shows 365 days a year.

Listen to Chris perform: