An in-depth look
The Early Years
Jay was born the youngest of 5 very adventurous children in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Shortly after, they all moved to a suburb outside Chicago, and Jay discovered his love of music. First with the piano, then moving on to drums, guitar, bass, stringed instruments and even the accordion. Band class and daily practice eventually evolved into forming his own bands in high school, and upon winning Battle of the Bands, Jay knew music was his calling.
University And Career Take-Off
Making his way to sunny California, Jay received master's degrees in the sciences at college as well as establishing himself as a successful entrepreneur and musician. A twist of fate brought him to the attention of Herb Cohen, a giant in the music industry, who saw Jay's potential and decided to guide his career. Before long Jay was picked up by a major label and began being hired as a session player for other artists and labels around the world. This was the beginning of his 3 decade career as a hired gun, playing with some of the biggest names in show business and on over 25 Grammy winning recordings. Because of his widely varied musical background Jay found it easy to slip from one genre to another, and have fun doing it!
Then To Now
In 2018 Jay decided to take a hiatus to complete and release his first solo album, "Plain Brown Wrapper". Choosing 12 songs from his original catalogue (none previously released to the public), he turned his attention to song arrangement. In this process Jay wrote and recorded each instrumental and vocal part himself at his personal recording studio. From there he was able to score out every part of each track. Bringing his compositions to Hilltop Recording Studio in Nashville. Borrowing a method perfected by Steely Dan, Jay brought in the best session players available. Working with each musician on their individual parts, so that they each had the specific feel for the way that Jay wanted it played. The entire album was recorded as a live performance over three days.
Planning A Record Release And Tour For Spring 2020
Going home with a record in the can, Jay proceeded to hire the live band and go on tour to promote the record release, but the world had other plans! After cancelling the tour because of lockdown, he sat down to figure out his next move. Not knowing how long it would last, he changed up the plan. Instead of a full record release, and utilizing the newfound popularity of radio during the pandemic, Jay decided the best tack was to release several singles off the album, widely spaced apart. Waiting to release the full record, and see how it all shook out.