Born Emanuel Abiteboul in Paris, France in 1970, the jazz and soul guitarist is better known by his stage name U-Nam. Influenced by George Benson, George Duke, and Stevie Wonder, he began playing guitar at the age of 12. After graduating from high school, he spent three years studying guitar at Le Centre d’information musicales (CIM) in Paris before setting off on a career as a session musician. After a successful decade of studio work, he released The Past Builds the Future, his solo debut, in 2005. The album featured “I’m Only U-Nam”, which was a hit single in Europe. His album Back from the ‘80s (2007) featured the smooth jazz hit “Street Life”, a cover of the Crusaders’ classic track. U-Nam relocated to Los Angeles, California and then released the album Unanimity (2009). Setting up his own label, Skytown Records, he released Weekend in L.A. (A Tribute to George Benson) (2012), C’est Le Funk (2014) and Surface Level (2016). U-Nam was a popular attraction at many of the international jazz festivals and continued to score hits on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz chart including 2014’s “Smoovin’” and “Risin’ to the Top”, and 2016’s “Going for Miles”. U-Nam released the compilation The Essential Collection in 2017 before returning with U-Nam Goes Big Band (2020) and Love in Motion (Future Love Part 3) (2021).
