Shur was born in Los Angeles, California on October 22, 1966 but was raised in Seattle, Washington and Cincinnati, Ohio.[2] His parents are the late Bonia Shur, who was a composer of Israeli and Jewish music and director of Liturgic Arts at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, who had emigrated to the United States from Russia via Israel,[6][7] and Fanchon Wechsler Shur, born in Chicago, Illinois, a former dancer and a choreographer.[8] Shur attended middle school at The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in Cincinnati. He graduated from Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, and studied jazz and composition for a year at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. In the early 1990s he joined a local art rock band called Sleep Theater with Rob Hamrick and Chris Sherman (later known as Freekbass).[8]
Career
Shur moved to New York City in 1992 where, in between doing odd jobs, he played in a Moroccan band and performed at the Knitting Factory, an avant-garde jazz venue.[6] Then he switched to acid jazz and co-founded the acid jazz group Groove Collective, featuring on their first two albums. Shur also began composing songs, and his first hit was "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which he co-wrote with Maxwell for Maxwell's 1996 debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite.[2]
In the late 1990s Shur explored funk, techno and hip-hop, and released two solo albums under an alias Big Muff, which he took from the name of an old Electro-Harmonix guitar distortion pedal, Big Muff.[2] "My Funny Valentine" from his first album, Music From the Aural Exciter was a minor hit in the United Kingdom in 1998. But the song that launched Shur's career was "Smooth",[8] which he co-wrote with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas for Santana's album Supernatural.[2] When he heard that Santana needed a song for their new album, Shur composed the song over a weekend.[8] Thomas, who sang the lead vocals with Santana, wrote the song's lyrics.[6]Carlos Santana's "samba-like guitar riff" on "Smooth" was "note-for-note" as Shur had written it.[8] "Smooth" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999,[4] and won Shur and Thomas the 1999 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.[5]Supernatural also won a Grammy Award in 1999 for Album of the Year.[3]
Shur released another solo album, Milk & Honey – 10 Hits To Bliss in 2001, this time under his real name. He also produced a number of albums for various artists, including Kronos Quartet, Hinda Hicks, Mark Farina, Lighthouse Family, The Scumfrog and Lucy Woodward.[9] Shur has since established his own artist development and production company.[2]
Solo discography
Music From the Aural Exciter (1998, Snapt Records) – released under the alias Big Muff
Aurally Exciting Remixes (2000, Razor & Tie) – released under the alias Big Muff
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