Following the death of Michael Jackson on Thursday 25 June, Jay Kay has posted a short statement at jamiroquai.com.  It reads:

"A tragic loss, he was only ten years older than me. I was hugely influenced by "Off The Wall" particularly. He will always be remembered for that level of brilliance which will doubtless never be replicated again. It's very sad news." Jay Kay

In mid-2007 Jay became a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society.  Established in 1957, CAPS is one of the UK's leading campaigning organisations on behalf of animals in circuses, zoos and other entertainment industries.

Back in 2008 the society interviewed Jay for their members magazine and they have just made the full interview available online at the CAPS website.

CAPS is really pleased that you agreed to become a patron. What helped you make that decision?

I like the idea that CAPS is a small grass-roots organisation. I find it really offensive to see animals in cages and dippy tourists having their photos taken with baby elephants in Thailand or monkeys in Russia. So any organisation that campaigns to stop this sort of thing is good as far as I’m concerned, as well as the stuff you do in the UK.

To read the full interview please visit the CAPS website.

EIL.com is listing a Blu-Ray audio CD of the High Times Greatest Hits album for release in Japan on 22 July.  The description of the release explains what a Blu-Ray audio CD is...

"Sony Music Entertainment Inc. has used its Blu-ray Disc technology to develop an audio CD [Blu-Spec] with high sound quality. The new discs are built using polymer polycarbonate materials as well as an optimized Blue Laser Beam cutting technology that improves the quality of the laser beam. The applied Blu-ray Disc polycarbonate polymer material introduces less jitter [noise] and thus, high-quality audio reproduction. Blu-Spec CDs conform to the standard audio CD [CDDA/Red Book] format and are compatible with existing CD players."

As with the standard Japanese release of the album, this release will include Half The Man as a bonus track.

Some of the members of Jamiroquai will be performing on 1 August 2009 in St. Neot's in Cambridgeshire (UK) to help raise money for Maxwell McKnight - a young child with a serious spinal condition. In 2008 Rob, Derrick and Paul were some of the bandmembers who performed at the charity gig - and I'd imagine they'll all be back this year...

More information can be found at maxwellmcknight.org.uk.

According to GuitarGearHeads.com, Jamiroquai guitarist Rob Harris will be one of the judges in this popular guitar contest when it reaches its conclusion on 13 June.

"Guitar Idol 2009 has seen over a thousand of the top undiscovered guitarists from all over the world battle their way through four online heats - the Final Heat proving amazingly popular with an average of well over 9000 daily visits and media coverage on national TV in the USA, Hungary, Chile, Romania and Pakistan amongst others."

"Make sure you check out the live final when 12 finalists will be performing live on the main stage at The London International Music Show on Saturday June 13th. Judges include Phil Hilborne, Jamie Humphries and Jamiroquai’s Rob Harris."

More information can be found at GuitarIdol.tv.