They existed 4 one album. One. Recorded it, pressed it onto disc, bundled it with Crystal Ball, & sent it thru the mail 2 people who called a phone number. No press release. No tour. No interviews. Just music, quietly dropped into the world & never mentioned again.
Released January 29, 1998 as the 5th disc of the Crystal Ball box set. Available only if U ordered direct thru 1-800-NEW-FUNK or love4oneanother.com. When Crystal Ball was later made available in stores thru Best Buy, Kamasutra was dropped — making it one of the rarest official Prince-adjacent releases in existence.
It is entirely instrumental. Sax-forward, lush, warm — closer 2 late-night jazz than anything else in the NPG catalogue. Clare Fischer's string and orchestral arrangements give it a cinematic quality that doesn't sound like anything else he was releasing at the time. Whether that was the point or just what happened when he stepped back & let other people lead — unknown.
Note: track listing reconstructed from available sources. The original Crystal Ball pressing shipped 2 some buyers without a track listing at all — this remains one of the stranger facts about this release.
Clare Fischer arranged strings & orchestral parts 4 Prince across multiple albums but the 2 never worked in the same room. Prince would send tapes; Fischer would send arrangements back. They collaborated 4 over 2 decades & apparently never met face 2 face. Fischer passed away in 2012. Prince never publicly addressed it.
— on Clare Fischer & Prince's working relationship
No press photos exist. No interviews were given. No concerts were performed. The NPG Orchestra made one record, handed it 2 people who called a phone number, & disappeared. If U have more information about this ensemble, sign the guestbook.