The dream of every producer is to walk into a recording studio and hear someone so different, so special that he knows immediately…this is the one!

In late 2000, Jay got a call from a friend at Blue Note asking, "Would you record some demos with a new artist?" Jay replied, "Sure. Let's use Sorcerer Sound." Initially, Jay drove down to Sorcerer Sound with the artist to check it out. Then, he went to Brooklyn to see a rehearsal with her band. Jay recalls, "It was incredible. Surreal. I mean every single song was remarkable."

What Norah Jones knew when she chose to work with Jay was that he worked on some amazing records. Especially Etta James' first Grammy winner, Mystery Lady: The Songs Of Billie Holiday, which in Norah's words, 'influenced her greatly growing up'.

In October of 2000, Jay spent two days recording and mixing 13 songs as demos with Norah and her band. At first, someone else was brought in to produce a finished album. Blue Note rejected the initial version of the record. Norah's manager then asked Blue Note to have Jay re-record the music and mix the album with Arif Mardin as producer. Back to Sorcerer they went, following the same exact blueprint Jay laid down when he made the demos. They tracked a week, overdubbed in 2 to 3 days and mixed at Sear Sound in August 2001.

The Norah Jones debut release came out in February of 2002. Led by Jay's co-production of the breakout radio single, "Don't Know Why," Come Away With Me took six months to sell 500,000 units. Since that date, it sold 20 million-plus copies worldwide (10.3mm plus in States). Jay won four Grammys for that album including Engineer of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Pop Vocal of the Year. All told Jay has 8 Grammys. Norah's follow up album, Feels Like Home, which was recorded and mixed by Jay, has sold over 1.2 million in its first week alone and 10 million copies worldwide (4mm States). On this release, Jay worked with members of The Band (Levon Helm and Garth Hudson) as well as Dolly Parton.

But don't believe for a second that Jay's career began here. Jay's work may have been widely recognized for Come Away With Me and Feels Like Home, yet Jay's been privileged (his words) to have worked with such Jazz greats as Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Keith Jarrett, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Elvin Jones, Randy Weston, Nnenna Freelon and Abbey Lincoln, Blues stars Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown w/ Eric Clapton, Charles Brown, Pinetop Perkins, Lowell Fulson, Robert "Jr." Lockwood and Taj Mahal and Gospel legends Mavis Staples and The Dixie Hummingbirds along with Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

From Berklee College of Music in Boston to RCA Studios on West 44th Street in New York City to his role today as a multi-Grammy winning producer/engineer/mixer, Jay clearly understands where he came from.

Jay is currently producing three (3) jazz albums with Hammond B-3 genius, Lucky Peterson, at New York' s Sear Sound with guest players Cindy Blackman, Cornell Dupree, Lenny Pickett, Rodney Jones, Houston Person and Danny Sadownick. He's also just mixed Leslie Mendelson's debut release, Easy Love, for Rykodisc and produced the second album with AYO slated for release in the middle of 2008. AYO's current album, Joyful, has just been released on Interscope in the States. Joyful has gone multi-platinum in France.

Jay produced and mixed Painted On Water's debut release, Ebru, featuring Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan with special guests Al DiMeola, Mike Stern, Dave Weckl and Kai Eckhardt. Prior, Jay produced and mixed Morley's album, Seen, (Universal/France) and Richie Havens' Nobody Left To Crown (Warner Bros/France) . Jay co-produced and mixed Abbey Lincoln's Abbey Sings Abbey (Verve) and mixed Linda Thompson's Versatile Heart (Rounder Records).

Jayco-produced and mixed Eran James' second album, 10 Songs About Love, (Universal/Australia) with producer/songwriter Tom Nichols in New York City. Jay also mixed Kelly Sweet's single, "Raincoat", from her debut release, We Are One (Razor and Tie).

Jay produced and mixed Ayo's, Joyful, for Polydor France at SONY Studios/NYC and produced and mixed Nigel Kennedy's EMI Classics' upcoming release at Avatar Studios in New York City with Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Kenny Werner as well as guest artists Lucky Peterson and Raul Midon. Prior, Jay mixed Louise Setara's debut for Blue Note Records.

Jay just completed mixing Michel Legrand at Guillaume Tell in Paris for EMI France. Previously, Jay mixed Australia's 10x platinum artist, Missy Higgins' debut EP All For Believing (Warner Bros.) as well as her debut lp The Sound of White.

Previously, he recorded and mixed Land of Sun Charlie Haden's gorgeous Verve jazz release, Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Paseo (Blue Note) and Claude Nougaro's La Note Bleue (Blue Note France) as well as the stereo and 5.1 mix of Norah Jones' current live concert DVD, Norah Jones and the Handsome Band-Live 2004.

Recording with Eran James (from The Gold Coast Bulletin, 10-18-07) [download PDF]

[DOWNLOAD PDF]

NORAH JONES
Don't Know Why

MISSY HIGGINS
Scar
Ten Days

THE LITTLE WILLIES
Love Me

DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS
with STEVIE WONDER
and PAUL SIMON
Loves Me Like A Rock

CHARLIE HADEN
with PAT METHANY
Noche de Ronda

PAT METHANY
Jewel

ETTA JAMES
Ghost Of A Chance

THE BILLY NAYER SHOW
Handsome

THE YAYHOOS
Wicked World

PINETOP PERKINS
What's the Matter With the Mill

KEITH JARRETT TRIO
Bye Bye Blackbird

DEREK TRUCKS and
WARREN HAYNES
Death Letter

BUDDY GUY
Clouds In My Heart

GATEMOUTH BROWN,
ERIC CLAPTON,
LEON RUSSELL
Blues Power