He is a singer-songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist
best known for keyboards, arranger, producer and author born Michael Jones
in Brooklyn, New York.He
began his musical career by playing trumpet for the artists Robert Wedlaw
and when he was 15 he became a member of the successful group B.T. Express,
this time as a keyboardist.They had already found their fame in 1974 with their hit song "Do It
('Til You're Satisfied)" which was followed by others such as "Express" and
"Give It What You Got" and from 1976 he performed on the clavinet,
synthesiser, organ and other keyboards with them.He left the group in 1979/1980 to become a co-founder of
the company Big M Productions and concentrate on songwriting and
producing.Sometime around
1981, after having become a Muslim, he changed his name to Kashif Saleem
and that same year he started seeing further success as a producer and
songwriter with Melba Moore's "Take My Love" and Evelyn King's "I'm In
Love".The following year in
1982 he saw a further success with Howard Johnson's "So Fine".Not forgetting his own career he
started recording demos with another group, Stepping Stone and toured with
the singer Stephenie Mills and this led to him landing a contract as a solo
artist with Arista Records. That same year he released his debut album,
which was self-titled and this resulted in the four hit records
"HelpYourself to My Love", "I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)", "Say
Something Love" and "Stone Love".This shot him into the limelight and started gaining him attention
for being a pioneer of the use of electronic instruments and synthesisers
in R&B music.Further
albums were released and he was also being sought after for his songwriting
and production skills with four Grammy nominations for "Call Me Tonight",
"The Mood", "The Movie Song" and "Edgartown Groove" which featured Al
Jarreau on vocals.His last
hit as a solo artists cam in 1987 with his duet with Meli'sa Morgan "Love
Me All Over".In 1990 he
decided it was time for a change and so stopped recording and spent his
time giving music instruction classes and seminars and holding workshops.Feeling the urge to return he
signed a contract with Expansion Records who primarily sell their
recordings to the UK market and within a matter of months released his Who
Loves You album.The
artists he has worked with/for as a songwriter, producer and/or musician
are many but a few of them include Debbie Allen, the Average White Band,
Peabo Bryson, Change, Expose, The For Tops, Kenny G, Jermaine Jackson,
Stacy Lattisaw, Melba Moore, Freda Payne and Tavares.As you can imagine, his discography
as a producer, musician and/or songwriter is fairly extensive but a choice
selection of them include his own After You, Condition of the Heart,
Love Changes, Music From My Mind and Send Me Your Love as well
as In Your Eyes by George Benson, Energy to Burn, Function at the
Junction and Shout! by B.T. Express, Sensual Journey by Will
Downing, Feelin' Lucky by High Fashion, Whitney by Whitney
Houston, Keepin' Love New by Howard Johnson, Get Loose by
Evelyn King and Reservations for Two by Dionne Warwick.On the academic side of his
career he put together the Contemporary Record Production course after an
invitation by U.C.L.A. in 1994.The following year his company Brooklyn Boys Books, Entertainment
and Information, which is based in Los Angeles, published his book Everything
You'd Better Know About the Record Industry.
