GROOVIN’

The production and writing team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis has been in the studio this week with Mary J. Blige working on a track for the upcoming movie “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” The combination of Janet Jackson’s primary collaborators and one of the leading figures in rhythmic R&B; is not just intriguing, it’s practically essential for this project. Throughout the original novel on which the film is based, written by Terry McMillan (who also wrote “Waiting to Exhale”), the title character, played in the film by Angela Bassett, specifically expresses her love for Blige’s music.

Jam and Lewis have already overseen tracks by Meshell Ndegeocello, K-Ci & JoJo and Wyclef Jean for the album, which is due to be released by their MCA-distributed Flyte Tyme label around the time of the film’s scheduled late-summer release. There’s talk of Stevie Wonder being added to duet on the Wyclef Jean track. Overall the project will use reggae elements in keeping with the Jamaican settings of the story.