Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are putting the finishing touches on the soundtrack for the upcoming film, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," and the producing duo enlisted several friends to help out on the new album, including Janet Jackson, K-Ci & Jo Jo, Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige, Shaggy and Chante Moore.

The album was a technical challenge for Jam and Lewis, who found themselves shuffling between sessions at their own Flyte Time studios in Minneapolis, and studios in New York, Los Angeles and Kingston, Jamaica.

Sometimes Jam and Lewis weren't even in the same room -- or continent! -- as the musicians they were recording, and Jackson was able to lay her vocals down during a phone call from London while the producers were listening in stateside.

The three, who have collaborated on all of Janet's albums since 1986's "Control," also employed the long distance technique for a remix project of Janet's while she was on tour on Japan. The process worked so well that

Jam nearly forgot the singer was halfway around the world.

After Janet had gotten done singing on the song" Jam told the MTV Radio Network, "I said, 'OK, come in and listen to it,' and she said, 'What are you talking about?' Because when we're in the studio, the lights are all off anyway, so it's like I'm not really looking at her, I just know she's there.

Other artists featured on the "Stella" soundtrack, which is due out on August 11, include Maxi Priest, Big Punisher, Beenie Man and Soul II Soul. The film is scheduled to open nationwide on August 14.

In related news, Jimmy Jam also told the MTV Radio Network that he and Lewis were in discussions with Prince and Morris Day about possibly reforming the Time for a new album. No word yet on when that project might be green-lighted, but we'll let you know if and when they head back into a studio -- hopefully with Jerome in tow.