HOT NEWS!

December, 2024

Jay talks about the HBO's Yacht Rock Documentary

Hey everyone,
I assume you have heard about the documentary on HBO - Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary which premiered on November 29. Doing the yacht rock documentary was a lot of fun and of course brought back memories.

Over the years I have mentioned that songs aren't oldies if you haven't heard them before. With that in mind, for any generation, let's hope that people not familiar with the genre, will watch the documentary and become interested in pop/R&B music that breaks the rules! To take this to another level, the music may inspire young musicians that haven’t been exposed to jazz chord changes used in pop songs!

A very good example of this is when Kenny Loggins heard Stevie Wonder's albums wanting to figure out the chord changes Stevie was using! Stevie was the first cat to really expand R&B/pop using such delicious chord voicings!

He changed my musical vocabulary as well. Even though I was kind of a jazzer, I didn’t think I could get away with it in pop songs until I heard Stevie’s album - "Music of My Mind"! His next four or five albums were incredible as well! Some of the albums after that may not have been quite as good, but there were always at least three or four songs that were masterpieces!

Back to the documentary. I hoped that they would use the footage in which I talked about albums, I produced, and the songs I co-wrote such as all the Jarreau albums, Airplay, JaR, the Dionne Warwick album "Friends In Love", the Steve Kipner and Marc Jordan albums, and more.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the documentary and I did have fun making the film. - Jay

November/December, 2024

Jay featured in HBO's Yacht Rock Documentary

This documentary about "Yacht Rock" music, maybe better known under its original name - the "Westcoast Sound" - smooth, soulful, jazzy fusion music, that dominated radio in the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s, promises incredible archival footage of recording sessions and performances, and funny, self-reflective interviews. Jay Graydon, being one of the leading artists and music pioneers of the era and genre, is interviewed and featured among others in this documentary.

Retroactively dubbed "Yacht Rock" in 2005 by a parody website series, the easy listening, relaxing sounds of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which were loved by so many, came to be gently mocked and even dismissed by rock lovers and critics, but have since reclaimed their legitimate place in music history and are celebrated in this groove-infused film from the HBO Music Box anthology series.

From TV Everyday's press release:
"Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary" is set to air on HBO at 9:00 PM on Friday, November 29, 2024. This documentary takes a deep dive into the smooth sounds and laid-back vibes of the yacht rock genre that emerged from the West Coast music scene. It highlights the artists who defined this unique style, including icons like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto.

Viewers can expect to learn how yacht rock became a cultural phenomenon, blending soft rock with pop elements to create music that feels both nostalgic and fresh. The documentary will explore the stories behind some of the genre’s biggest hits and how these musicians shaped the sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s. With interviews, rare footage, and insights from music experts, it promises to be a captivating journey through a beloved era of music."

Release Date & Time: 9:00 PM Friday 29 November 2024 on HBO.

November, 2024

Jay playing LIVE at The Hollywood Bowl!!!

As most of you already know, David Foster turned 75 on November 1, and on November 3 he put on a fantastic birthday celebration show at The Hollywood Bowl with a host of the best artists around. The Hollywood Bowl has a seating capacity of 17,500 and David Foster's 75th "You’re The Inspiration" birthday gig was SOLD OUT!

This was an evening of unforgettable music featuring performances from Andrea and Matteo Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Brian McKnight, El DeBarge, Jennifer Hudson, Charlie Puth, Fee Waybill, Katharine McPhee, Tori Kelly, and other music superstars, such as Steve Lukather, Dean Parks, Michael Thompson, Lenny Castro, and John "JR" Robinson.

Jay played guitar at the show on two of the monster hits he has co-written with Foz - MORNIN' (for Al Jarreau) and - AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE (for Earth, Wind & Fire) with Brian McKnight on vocals this star-studded night.

The video below shows Jay's performance with Brian McKnight, David Foster, and the rest of the band, but unfortunately Jay's guitar is not audible. The video is apparently filmed from the audience and is a bit twitchy. There is a lot of wind disturbance as well. Sorry about that!

Not sure if this b-day gig was officially filmed with real audio from the board, but hopefully it was, and if so, we will surely be able to post a video with better sound later on.

David Foster 75th Birthday Hollywood Bowl Concert Brian McKnight Los Angeles CA US November 3, 2024

A few comments from Jay:
"Yeah, sis, my part is not audible. No big deal, but it was fun making the hang. I was going to use my Bossa signature guitar for one line on AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE, but the time to change guitars may have been too close to make it practical, so I just didn't play the long bend lick that's in the second verse on the Airplay for the Planet album.

The guitar I used for MORNIN' and AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE is my Valley Arts Strat type guitar. It's the best sounding Strat type I've ever heard using the middle and rear pick-up together. The reason for using this guitar was more than just for the sound, as I have an EverTune bridge on that guitar!

For those of you who don't know about EverTune bridges, it makes the guitar play perfectly in tune! Plus, I rarely have to tune the guitar! Typically the only time I have to tune is if the air conditioning or heat comes on in my studio. This saves a huge amount of time, since when playing guitars without an EverTune bridge, I spend so much time tuning up after every take in the studio! It would be the same for live playing as well.

You can also set up the EverTune bridge so you can bend strings! You have to bend a little farther to get the pitch to move, but it's doable and still plays very well in tune!

I have EverTune bridges on seven guitars as it's really worth it! Go to the EverTune site and read about how they work. If you have any questions for any of the guys at the office/shop, tell the guys I posted on my website about EverTune bridges, since if you have a guitar dedicated to play rhythm or you play live quite often, you're gonna be so happy you have to hardly ever tune up and instead of tuning up after every song, you rarely have to tune up!

My very good friend Phil deGruy has a funny line in which he states, "I spend a third of my time tuning up, a third of my time playing out of tune, and a third of the time having nightmares about playing out of tune". Ha ha ha ha.

To make sure you really like the EverTune bridge, first put one on a guitar that's not your main guitar just to make sure you like it.

I've done a video for my upcoming YouTube channel on the EverTune bridge showing a strobe tuner, while playing random notes all over the guitar and you'll see every note is perfectly in tune!"

October, 2024

T-shirt Scam Alert!!!

Hey all, a pal just told me that some scammer is selling T-shirts on Facebook, pretending to be me. Please note, it is NOT me!!! I haven't seen the ads, so I can't block and report this, but if you come across such an ad, please block and report, if you can.

We are NOT selling any Jay Graydon T-shirts on Facebook or anywhere else!!!

When I start selling merch in my name, I will announce it big time on my website - www.jaygraydon.com - and let you know all about it.

Thanks for your help! These scammers must be stopped! - Jay

September, 2024

Jay and Foz at Ray's Hang

It is not every day that Jay and Foz get to sit down and talk, but one of those rare occasions, when they had a chance to catch up, was recently at a celebration party at Ray Parker Jr.'s pad. A fun evening with a bunch of old pals having a great time, enjoying quality time and sharing some terrific stories.

The pictures below from this hang are taken by Denise Marie Luko.
(To see a larger image, just click on the pic.)

Photo © Denise Marie Luko. All rights reserved.

Old friends - musicians/songwriters extraordinaire - Jay Graydon and David Foster.

 

Photo © Denise Marie Luko. All rights reserved.

This picture shows Jay and Ray's Norwegian pal and business partner Ola Strøm. Ola's friendship with Ray, his affection for live and recorded music and musicians as well as his passion for films and film making, led him to create "Power Chord Films" in Los Angeles in 2019 together with Ray and film director Fran Strine, who, BTW produced the documentary "Hired Gun". "Power Chord Films" is a film production company focusing on music documentaries, and has already produced its first film: "Who You Gonna Call?" about the astonishing life and career of Ray Parker Jr.

 

Photo © Denise Marie Luko. All rights reserved.

This picture captures the party host Ray Parker Jr. with Jay and Foz. The cat sitting in the front of them is Tim May, the go-to guitarist for Lionel Richie, session guitarist on many hit records e.g. for Blondie and The Pointer Sisters, as well as the guitarist on movies like "Back to the Future" and "American Gigolo".

 

July, 2024

Jay's Beautiful Arrangement of the STAR SPANGLED BANNER

Star Spangled Banner - arranged and played by Jay Graydon

 

"When I was in Japan promoting my album, "Airplay for the Planet", I was asked to do a video for a major TV show. They asked that I play the "Star Spangled Banner" starting with a melodic chord melody rendition and then break into a Jimi Hendrix thing. I spent a few hours in the hotel working out the chord melody part. When I got back to L.A. the song came to mind and I finished the chord melody arrangement in full. I never thought I would record it, but when I worked on my BEBOP album, a few of my guitar pals said I should record and include this arrangement as well.

Further, since I could mix the BEBOP album leaving out one instrument, I did a few versions in that fashion and published one of them - the Minus-Guitar version - on Hal Leonard. So, the BEBOP album is also available as a "Jam-with-the-Band" book/CD package, which is a book with the sheet music and a CD with the music minus guitar as to play with the band with top-notch session players. The book/CD package lets you learn and perform 8 of my original bebop tunes, plus the Star Spangled Banner - a rare opportunity for young jazz music students to perform with a real bebop band and a fun way of keeping your chops up, while playing alone at home.

Both the BEBOP album and the "Jam-with-the-Band" book/CD package, are available via my website
- Jay Graydon

May 2024

The Lost Steely Dan Interview Feat. Jay Graydon & Dean Parks

In this episode, Steely Dan alums Jay Graydon (Peg solo) and Dean Parks (Played on 5 Steely Dan records) discuss Steely Dan and their storied session careers. Tim Pierce and I joined them in what I would describe as the ultimate studio guitar hang." - Rick Beato

February 2024

Jay Graydon on YouTube

We have just opened up the Jay Graydon Official YouTube Channel which eventually will become Jay's Official Artist Channel and have all his videos on YouTube merged into this channel, meaning, apart from the current content, also Jay's Topic Channel - auto-generated by YouTube with his albums released and distributed by CD Baby - as well as all user-generated videos featuring his music in various ways.

We will launch Jay's second YouTube channel - Jay Graydon - All Things Music - shortly. This is the channel in which Jay will share with you everything he has learned or come up with as to recording techniques over the years. There will also be interviews, videos on guitar playing, and so much more.

And yes, we also still have our old Graydon/Olofsson channel on YouTube with videos about other things.

Holiday Season, 2023

Holiday Greetings from Jay!

Happy holidays, everyone! To put you up-to-date, the second JaR album is finally going to get mixed and Randy and I are going to have an external mixing engineer mix it as I'm getting too old to deal with this stuff. After working on a mix all night, the next day when I listen, I want to change too many things.

Here's the plan for upcoming events, we're finally getting my YouTube channel live very soon. There'll be a lot of interviews and a lot of educational stuff as I'm going to teach everything I've learned or come up with regarding recording techniques.

Team Olofsson (Kerstin, Stefan, Peppe, and Lage) are helping out big time with editing the videos, many conversations with the guys, as to music and engineering stuff and more!

As for guitar and music, of course, I'll be teaching such stuff and I'll probably do an ear training course. Rick Beato has an excellent course but we all have our ways of dealing with relative pitch for us people that don't have perfect pitch. By the way, there's many degrees of perfect pitch and relative pitch and I'll tell you all about that in the course. I've also been working on a guitar book with the help of Stefan and Peppe. This book will not only teach guitar techniques, but also set anyone up who wants to become a studio guitarist or at least have those tools. Also, without giving anything away, this will help your songwriting in a big way!

As bait for harmony teaching, how many diminished chords are there? It's kind of a trick question but see if you can figure out the answer. Keep in mind, diminished chords also have two other uses. Can you name them?

In closing, please spread the word about the YouTube channel as I really think it will help everyone grow musically and open up avenues as to how to record audio as well as dealing with problems such as phase issues.

Let's start with a tip. Do not allow digital audio to clip, meaning distort! Digital distortion sounds terrible and even a little bit is not acceptable!

In your DAW, in preferences, set your meter mode to infinite metering. If there's any clipping, that will keep the red clip light lit on the track that clipped! This way, after recording, you will see if any audio clipped! I'll explain in full in one of the videos.

Again, Happy holidays to all and I hope 2024 is a great year for everyone! - Later all, Jay

IN THE CITY - Remix 2023

Excellent remix of - IN THE CITY - with Jay's incredible guitar solo is now available at Spotify and other streaming platforms. This remixed track will be included on the State Cows album "The Second One Redux", which will be released in 2024.

New Song by Jay Graydon, Anders Rydholm, & Lars Säfsund

Jay Graydon & Anders Rydholm at Garden Rake Studios. Photo © Denise Marie Luko (To see a larger image, just click on the pic.)

A few years ago Jay and Anders Rydholm got together at Garden Rake Studios to write songs, and now one of them - What's Not to Love - is released by Rydholm Säfsund. Lars Säfsund wrote the lyric and is also the singer on this track. Stefan Olofsson (State Cows, Dynamo Bliss, Team Olofsson) on piano. Enjoy!

Also availabe on Spotify

New Christmas Song by Jay Graydon & Don Breithaupt

A while back Jay Graydon and Don Breithaupt wrote a few songs together for the holidays and now one of them has been recorded by Don's band - Brass Transit. Here below is a YouTube video with Brass Transit performing this beautiful Christmas ballad - ME AND THE SNOWSTORM AND YOU - for all of you to enjoy!

ME AND THE SNOWSTORM AND YOU

 

Also availabe on Spotify

Jay and Joe Graydon Performing Together

ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE

Hey everyone, check out this video Kerstin put together for xmas! Great job sis!!!! My dad would love the fact a song he wrote more than 70 years ago is still heard around the world! It was the last time my dad was recorded (being 77 years old at the time of recording) and that made us both very happy! What is most amusing is the role reversal as the student (me) was telling the teacher (my father) how to phrase the vocal in 12/8 time. We both had fun working on the vocal. - Jay

The song - ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE - is produced, arranged, performed, mixed and mastered by Jay Graydon. His father Joe Graydon wrote the song and sings the lead vocal. Background vocal by Bill Cantos and Jay can also be heard on the bridge.

Joe Graydon had his own TV Show in the 50s - the first music and talk show in the Los Angeles area. The TV show aired live on KLAC Channel 13 and is probably never filmed in full. As far as we know, the only copy of this show is saved on this video in which Jay repaired the audio.

During the late 1940s, Joe Graydon served as a conductor for radio station KLAC's house band, which became known as the Joe Graydon Orchestra for both the radio station and KLAC-TV, and he was featured as a singer-bandleader on early TV shows including Al Jarvis/Betty White's daytime variety show.

Joe Graydon was a singer on the highly popular radio show, "Your Hit Parade". He took Frank Sinatra's place as the leading male singer on "Your Hit Parade" with an air of mystery. Referred to only as "Joe" when he debuted on the show in the mid-1940s, the mystery surrounding his identity only increased his popularity.

A successful singing career followed, and he is best known for his definitive version of AGAIN, in collaboration with bandleader Gordon Jenkins, Joe Graydon was one of the most popular singers of the Big Band era. In 1950 he was offered a job in television as well. "The Joe Graydon Show" was broadcast on Los Angeles and San Diego television stations for much of the first half of the 1950s.

Here is Jay Graydon on the story behind the song ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE:

"My father Joe Graydon wrote - ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE - most likely in the late 1940s. Both my father and the Mills Bros, recorded the song in the late 40s but neither version was a hit. I always loved the song and in 1996, I arranged a version for the era. (Note the song was recorded as a demo as to "shop" the song to successful artists recording Christmas songs).

The original arrangement was in 3/4 time. That time signature does not translate well in 1996 for such a song sounding very "square" so I used a 6/8 feel when working out the arrangement. A 6/8 is like a triplet "feel" in 2/4 time (the long single bar "feel" is a slow triplet 4/4 "feel.") So the trick was to find a way to phrase the vocal from 3/4 to 4/4 adding a beat of music every 4 beats. Typically a difficult task as the melody needs to be re-thought while still keeping the integrity of the original as to the delivery of the lyrics. Well, this time it was easy since I had not heard the original recording in many years and envisioned the melody over a 6/8 rhythm pattern. I then taught my father the phrasing. Yea, an interesting experience teaching my father how to sing his own song! Most important to keep in mind my dad was 77 when he sang the vocal!!! He sounds great!!! When "bouncing" his individual vocal track performances to one master track, there was one line in the bridge he did not pull off phrasing wise. I did not want to call him and ask he fix it, since just a demo, so I sang the line. I also thought me singing would make it a family performance but dad did not agree stating it did not make sense for my voice to come out of nowhere. He was correct in that thinking as to a record, but I reminded him it is just a demo to get the song placed, noting when the listener got to the bridge, he already loves the song. In any case, it is cool I sang the line since my dad passed away many years ago so a family recording is in play!!!

The bridge of the song was set up as in my dad's era style of 4 background singers in close harmony. I asked Bill Cantos to sing the parts, which he did. 99.9% of the time I would write out the parts, as the control freak I am, but knowing Bill, no need as his musical ears are outstanding!!! He nailed the harmonies perfectly and also did a great job on the outro section!!!" - Jay

Also availabe on Spotify

July, 2023

Jay's Beautiful Arrangement of the STAR SPANGLED BANNER

Star Spangled Banner - arranged and played by Jay Graydon

 

"When I was in Japan promoting my album, "Airplay for the Planet", I was asked to do a video for a major TV show. They asked that I play the "Star Spangled Banner" starting with a melodic chord melody rendition and then break into a Jimi Hendrix thing. I spent a few hours in the hotel working out the chord melody part. When I got back to L.A. the song came to mind and I finished the chord melody arrangement in full. I never thought I would record it, but when I worked on my BEBOP album, a few of my guitar pals said I should record and include this arrangement as well.

Further, since I could mix the BEBOP album leaving out one instrument, I did a few versions in that fashion and published one of them - the Minus-Guitar version - on Hal Leonard. So, the BEBOP album is also available as a "Jam-with-the-Band" book/CD package, which is a book with the sheet music and a CD with the music minus guitar as to play with the band with top-notch session players. The book/CD package lets you learn and perform 8 of my original bebop tunes, plus the Star Spangled Banner - a rare opportunity for young jazz music students to perform with a real bebop band and a fun way of keeping your chops up, while playing alone at home.

Both the BEBOP album and the "Jam-with-the-Band" book/CD package, are available via my website
- Jay Graydon

April, 2023

Jay Graydon's Outstanding Guitar Solo on I'M A CAMERA!

Marc Jordan shares with us Jay's legendary guitar solo on I'M A CAMERA, from his album BLUE DESERT produced by Jay. Enjoy this YouTube Short video - created by Amy Sky I chose Jay Graydon's solo on "I’m a Camera" almost at random, because the fact is I could choose any solo he ever played on my songs. Jay was consistently playing at the highest level and his inventiveness was thrilling to watch as he moved from one melodic masterpiece to another. With a nod of the head to various styles he incorporated within his solos, he created a style all his own. He made my songs better, pure and simple. - Marc Jordan Stream "I'm a Camera" here

BLUE DESERT - PRODUCED BY JAY GRAYDON

Generalities I'm A Camera Twilight From Nowhere To This Town Beautiful People Lost In The Hurrah Release Yourself Tattooed Lady Exile

Jay Graydon Input (track numbers)

• Producer (full album)
• Conductor (full album)
• Arranger (full album)
• Lead guitar (1,2,3,4,7)
• Rhythm guitar, soloist (8)
• Guitar (5)
• Synthesizers (3, 6)
• Engineer (full album)

American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician and actor, born in Brooklyn, NY, son of singer Charles Jordan, and grew up in Toronto, Canada. Jordan's music career really took off in 1978 when he was signed to Warner Music in Los Angeles and began writing songs for and with the likes of Diana Ross, Chicago, Kansas, Manhattan Transfer, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Olivia Newton John, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Groban, Cher and Rod Stewart. His songs have been on 35 million CDs and he has recorded 16 albums of his own material.

Marc's own comments about Jay in an interview by Toshi Nakada of Cool Sound, Japan.

I met Jay in 1978 on a session for Mannequin ......I was struck by the way his playing had intention ....it was not just blowing over chords...his solos had a beginning, middle and end......they were like little compositions within the song.........I later got him to produce Blue Desert and I think he played some of his best solos on that record. He is brilliant, quirky, funny and so talented and I am glad to call him my friend for all these years.....we've had some great times together and the music he made will live on ......Marc Jordan

More album details here.

Jay Playing on the Latest Single by Ole Børud!

Jay and two of his musician pals from way back when - Bill Champlin and Mike Omartian - are participating on the latest release coming from Ole Børud. The single is available on all streaming services as of April 10th.

Check out this YouTube short for more info!

Jay's comment below: "I really dig Ole as he's a great cat and extremely talented on every musical level! Thanks to Ole, he keeps quality pop/R&B/jazz, music alive!" - Jay Graydon

Sharing Pics From Back in the Day

Photo © Don Poncher 1971 (To see a larger image, just click on the pic.)

Recently I've been going through pictures and I found these two. The first picture is showing me with a plastic tube in my mouth and this tube is called The Bag. The way it works is when the bag is switched in, it turns off the guitar amp speaker and activates a mid-range driver (which is a speaker that produces frequencies from probably 700 cycles to 2000 cycles). With the plastic tube in your mouth, whatever you play on guitar or whatever instrument you're using it for, the sound pressure resonates your vocal cords so you form word shapes, etc. The sound of the guitar goes into the mouth and you can form some words or syllables. As noted above, this was called The Bag and Don Ellis told me about it as it was at one of the first NAMM shows in 1969. Obviously I bought one.

I think this was around 1971 and I was working with Jim Price, who produced Genya Ravan. Don Poncher, who was one of the drummers in the band took this pic. The album was released in 1973.

When I started doing record dates full time I knew that there could be a better design with a better driver, and a friend of mine that I grew up with, who is Jon Hoehn (John became a doctor but has great blue collar skills as his dad was a blue collar cat and taught John all of his skills so John can build anything!). Long story but there's one part that we had to have made and thankfully a giant airplane manufacturing company did make it for us that screwed on to the driver to the width of the surgical tubing we used.

I called it the Yap-A-Yo Tube.

To make the the tubing sanitary, we used surgical tubing and we also added a separate piece of surgical tubing about 6 inches long for a removable mouthpiece. Before and after using I had a little bottle of alcohol and Q-tips to clean it.

Playing with most of the LA Philharmonic on a George Martin concert at the Hollywood bowl, I was hired to play the Jeff Beck song "Diamond Dust" and more songs George produced. George had produced the band, AMERICA, and they were the featured act. The song "Diamond Dust" was in 5/4 (I think) and the reason I think I was hired was that the contractor knew I had been in the Don Ellis band since was I was 19, knowing I could read "odd times".

Tommy Tedesco was the other guitarist. George Martin told me to play a simple rhythm guitar part on acoustic on another song and I said, "You mean the stupid English style of sweeping rhythm". A few minutes later Tedesco said, "Man I thought I was bold but do you realize what you said?" I quickly said, "Oops, I fucked up!"

The set up of the band AMERICA at this gig was in front of us and I noticed the Yap-A-Yo tube was on the stage sitting next to a mic stand. The Tygon surgical tubing that the sound goes through was taped on the mic stand (as it should be for playing live) and also taped, probably on the microphone, so who is ever using it could simply walk up to the mic and put the tubing in his mouth. 

The foot switch was right next to the Yap-A-Yo unit as to switch off the amp speaker and activate the mid range driver of the Yap-A-Yo unit.  For recording or running through a PA system on a gig, you mic your mouth, the same way you would mic a singer.

I have no idea where the cat bought it, as I only sold a few to a music store. We made 50 of these and I sold the rest to my studio guitar pals. I still have like maybe four. 

I'll definitely do a demo for my YouTube channel and to make sure I don't forget I'll put one in the control room right now.

It's easy for someone to build one with a little electronic knowledge. The only difficult part would be to have someone make a piece of hardware that doesn't contain any dangerous chemicals. It looks similar to a funnel. The unit needs to be threaded to screw onto the mid range driver. On the funnel end, the tubing slips onto that with the same dimensions as the inside of the tubing.

I'll explain all this when I do the video.

I've used it on records over the years and it's fun. You can e.g. hear it on the song "She Just Can't Make Up Her Mind" on my album AIRPLAY FOR THE PLANET at approx. around 3:41 and also on the guitar fills earlier in the song, e.g. in the second verse.

Photo © Don Poncher 1971. (To see a larger image, just click on the pic.)

L to R: David Foster, Jay Graydon, Larry Carlton, Harvey Mason, David Hungate, Willie Ornelas.

We were having a party and started talking about instruments we played when growing up. Ironically, we still had the instruments! We went back to our houses, grabbed our instruments, and came back! David Foster, played valve trombone, Larry and I played trumpet, David Hungate is an excellent trombone player! Harvey Mason is a drummer and didn't play another instrument so Hungate brought a baritone horn for Harvey to play. Willie Ornelas is a drummer and David Hungate brought his upright bass for Willie to play.

For those of you that play any wind instruments, if you don't practice for years, your embouchure will get tired very quickly! We maybe made it through 15 minutes of pretty much just making musical noise and really had fun!

December, 2022 / January, 2023

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Holiday and New Year's Update from Jay!

I thank each and everyone for your happy holiday wishes! I wish a great 2023 to all of you! It's time for me to go to into the studio to get to work, but first I'll let you know what's in store for 2023!

I'm sorry I haven't had the time to get back to a lot of you who have questions as there's so much to do! When the YouTube channel is up and running, you can leave comments and ask me the questions at that point.

1. I am working on the YouTube educational channel! Of course, I will teach guitar and music in general but the first focus is going to be on recording techniques, I've come up with over the years! I must teach the information before I forget it! Some of the information I'm going to share, is going to change the sound of your recordings and mixing, making it much better by simply understanding the importance of physics and phase (actually, it should be called polarity, but we use the term phase in the studio setting)!

2. I know it's been taking so long to finish the second JaR album mixes. The album will be entitled CODE. The problem with owning an analog console is the capacitors need to be changed every 5 to 10 years as the console runs hot. My excellent tech, Dave Clark, is now working full-time at Warner Bros. so he only has one day a week to work on repairs in my studio as it's more than just capacitor replacements.

3. The Famous E Electric Piano. We're going to release an update soon that will allow a switchable mode the host (DAW, etc). As to clock the tremolo and chorus speeds using the song tempo! This is going to help big time since without this upcoming mode, if the Tremolo speed is set too close to the the song tempo, musicians are trying to fight the Tremolo speed versus playing with actual tempo of the song!

3a. Also, the current software version is much better as to the stereo mode in the advanced page! If you have the Famous E, check out the stereo mode as it takes up a lot less room in the track! I'll explain why. When I first discovered using the Boss chorus with the Rhodes, what that achieved changing the sound from giant mono to giant stereo! The Rhodes is loaded with low frequency information (starting around 80 cycles with a peak at around 125 cycles depending on which bass notes you play) along with upper low to lower mid frequencies)(400 to 700 or so) that can cloud up the vocal area and other instruments!

The fix is to use the stereo panning mode in the advanced page! Start with the pan setting at 68% and experiment from there. This will position notes in a card across the stereo, spectrum taking off the last room in the overall track! Further, it gives you motion like an acoustic piano! Play chords and set the percentage to taste, depending on how far you want the individual notes in the chords to pan! This really gives the track some life! Also, for solos, it really helps to get the listeners attention while the notes are panning to different locations in the stereo spectrum!

Please start with my first preset as I rolled out some of the low med frequencies to give the piano more roam in the track! By the way, when I was doing my preset patches for the program, I made a mistake by setting the chorus level to full wet meaning the knob is set to far right so you don’t get any dry signal. Ouch, and I'm sorry! I asked Greg to change that setting to 12 o'clock on the next update, so you have the blend at half dry and half wet, which is what we typically want. After saying that, there are no rules, but just guidelines.

4. The DX7 was a complete game changer FM synthesizer when it came out in the 1980s! My very good friend Chris Poehler came up with a great idea, which is to do a sample library of around 10,000 patches of the best programming designed by a handful of people who were excellent programmers such as my very good friends Dave Boruff and Tom Saviano! We're getting close as to setting up the program and then releasing it through Orange Tree Samples!

5. I am writing a guitar book that's going to have 3 major events! One will be a new way to write down the name of the chord voicings, so you can get the exact voicing intended without writing down the notes!

The second event is I figured out a way to make it much easier to read rhythm patterns! Even if you're not a good reader, you'll catch on very quickly!

As we know, 85% of guitar playing is rhythm guitar. There will be around 1000 rhythm guitar patterns! Then, if you use combinations of the rhythm patterns, the number increases exponentially! I'll also release the audio/video for such rhythms after the book comes out.

When you play these rhythms, the odds are good it will inspire you to write songs as well!

There will be more information in the book as well such as to playing solos and lines, along with harmonizing the lines with two, three, and four harmony parts! This book is going to take a while to complete, but I'm determined to finish it!

6. There's one more thing I want to tell you about which is my very good friend, Dr. Bill Evans, who is an absolute genius, has created AI programs to eliminate leakage from live playing in individual tracks! His programs can do much more than that, as he can control time, pitch, and level of every event!

He has received two PhD's for the first two versions he designed and will receive a third PhD after this program has been completed. It's called "The Graydonizer" and should be released in the beginning of this year at some point!

I asked Bill why is he naming the program after me? He said that I had taught him the importance of phase and how to deal with such phase issues so he has incorporated my concepts in the program.

I'm going to do a video with Bill for my YouTube channel soon so he can show us what the program can do! I've already seen these other programs in operation and it's absolutely incredible what can be done! Bill also designed a program - SpectraLayers - that is similar to the RX native instrument bundle, but I think it's actually better for many audio tools like how to get rid of noise properly and much more!

Comment from Bill Evans: "It's really cool to hear that you're up to all this stuff, man - that's awesome, and looking forward to it. I wanted to add that it wasn't just your knowledge of phase, but your mastery of both music and audio that inspired me (and continues to). Honoured to meet you all, and best wishes for the New Year - Bill."

What's ironic is I've been hired as a consultant and beta tester many times over the years typically by Marcus Ryle, who was responsible for designing the Alesis ADAT, and so much more and then started his company Line 6 That was the first digital guitar amp, and much more! The irony is, guys like Marcus and Bill are off the end of the genius bell curve, but sometimes they don't think of stuff needed to consider. I'm always thinking about ways to do things that aren't possible at first thought such as I figured out how to get audio in the future on an analog tape machine, I'll do a video on that. In any case, I am honored these guys ask me to get involved with such projects.

I'll do a YouTube video as to why these guys hire me as a consultant explaining how the original ADATs was designed with some mode I requested that bypass the analog to digital and digital to analog converters! It's so easy to do, and it's so strange, that none of the DAW manufacturers have included this feature! Even though the converter delay time isn't long, it can be very annoying, especially for singers and drummers - actually everyone that's hearing the converter delay in their headphones when recording. There is a workaround which I'll explain in a video on my YouTube channel.

Again, Happy Holidays to all and I hope 2023 is a great year for everyone! - Jay Graydon

 

December, 2022

Jay Graydon (Greatest Music of All Time Podcast)

Tom Cridland - # 507 - Jay Graydon (Greatest Music of All Time Podcast)

Tom Cridland and his crew revisited Jay in his studio and talked about e.g. the song ROXANN and other songs from his AIRPLAY FOR THE PLANET album, also touching upon playing and producing in the golden era of quality music, today's music industry issues etc.

 

November, 2022

New Version Of TWILIGHT ZONE/TWILIGHT TONE

Check out this new version (2022) of TWILIGHT ZONE/TWILIGHT TONE, on which Jay is also doing a new version of his amazing guitar solo!

The song is written by Jay Graydon and Alan Paul and here performed by The Manhattan Transfer with Germany's renowned WDR Funkhausorchester Köln (WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne).

Jeff Babko interview with JAY GRAYDON about his recording of the original solo
The View From L.A. - Oct. 31, 2022 - JAZZ.FM91 - Jeff Babko

October, 2022

Fred Selden Passing

I am extremely sad as to Fred's passing! He was an outstanding woodwind player and one of the best sight readers ever! We were good friends since 1968 and always kept in contact. We were both in the Valley College Big Band and later on we played together in the Don Ellis band. We played on a lot of sessions as well after the Don Ellis days! Fred had a great sense of humor, and we were laughing half the time, especially on the Don Ellis bus rides! He was such a great cat and I will miss him dearly! - Jay

Fred Selden was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Instrumental Arrangement in 1971 for his composition - The Magic Bus Ate My Doughnut! Don Ellis says in his annotation of this tune, which is included on - The Don Ellis Orchestra Live at The Fillmore: "Fred Selden has been an important member of the band for several years now. He first started playing in one of my student rehearsal bands and as our lead sax player he has been contributing some of our most intriguing and exciting scores."

Here is a playlist with the Don Ellis Recordings - featuring Jay on guitar.

Details noted on the session pages.

NEW DON ELLIS BAND GOES UNDERGROUND
DON ELLIS AT FILLMORE
CONNECTION
SOARING

Two Don Ellis reunion gigs (in 2005 and in 2007) presented on these pages below.

Don Ellis Alumni Band - Reunion Gig - 2005
Don Ellis Alumni Band - 2nd Reunion Gig - 2007

August, 2022

The Producers Room Ep24 - Jay Graydon Pt1

"The Producer's Room with Dave Tough interviews Jay Graydon in this two-part video series. Jay is a two-time Grammy winner (he has actually technically won three times but his name wasn't put on one award as an arranger). In the 1970s and 1980s he was a 1st call studio guitarist working and recording alongside names like Tommy Tedesco, Steve Lukather, Dean Parks and Ray Parker Jr. He continues to work as a world-class artist, producer, arranger, engineer, and more out of his studio in Los Angeles. Jay has 12 Grammy finalist nominations including "Producer of the Year" (the year Thriller won) and is responsible for writing several huge hit songs of the 1970s and 80s including "After The Love Is Gone" (#1 for Earth Wind and Fire written co-written with David Foster and Bill Champlin) and "Turn Your Love Around" (a huge #1 hit with George Benson - co-written with Bill Champlin and Steve Lukather).

Jay is also an artist and a member of bands such as Airplay (with David Foster) and JaR (with Randy Goodrum). Jay shares his wisdom of all facets of the music production process Thanks to everyone who made this happen and thank you for supporting the Producer's Room with Dave Tough!"

The Producers Room Ep24 - Jay Graydon Pt2

Summer, 2022

JaR - CODE Update

Message from Jay:

"I'm gonna start a YouTube educational channel in the next few months as soon as the JaR 2 album is finally mixed, which is going to happen as soon as I get my Neve console repaired!

When I get the channel up and running, I'm going to teach stuff most people have never thought of as to engineering/recording and I'm also going to get around to guitar and other music stuff. I'm also working on a guitar book and a couple other books. The guitar book is going to have two very interesting concepts in it!"
- Jay

So, while we are all waiting for the second JaR album - CODE - you may enjoy listening to this song - THE CABO CAD - from the first JaR album - SCENE 29.

May, 2022

JAY GRAYDON featured in "Sounds On Circles" on Solar Radio

Check out this radio show "Yacht Soul special for Jay Graydon" in which Paul Clifford is showcasing Jay's extensive work as a producer, songwriter, arranger, and guest musician. A few lesser known gems mixed with many huge hits being featured within these more than 3 hours of pure ear candy.

Jay's comment:
"Hey Paul,
Well done man! You brought back a lot of memories as each song has its stories!
Sis, yeah, let's put up the link as the order of songs is good! - Later you two, Jay"

March, 2022

YachtRock Podcast "OUT OF THE MAIN"

John and Tom were absolutely gobsmacked to welcome 12-time Grammy nominated, 2-time Grammy winning, and all around legend of music Jay Graydon to the podcast. Undeniably one of yacht rock's greatest talents, Jay shares his tales from yesteryear, reveals a few tricks of his trade, and dives deep into what he's up to today. Here below the podcast interview, which contains music drops and other audio...in three parts, plus the extended video (almost 2 hours long) posted first.

The Extended Video Interview

The Podcast In 3 Parts

EPISODE 22.2: SPECIAL GUEST, JAY GRAYDON

Highlights from Part 1:

• The Grammy he earned but never received
• His forthcoming YouTube channel and tutorials for budding engineers and guitar players
• The curse and blessing that is Jay Graydon's ear
• That time Marc Jordan gave Jay the finger
• The fable of the Fender E Rhodes
• How you can "play" the fabled E Rhodes today

EPISODE 22.3: JAY GRAYDON, PART 2

John and Tom continue their interview with Jay Graydon - composer, producer, session musician, artist...the list goes on and on.

Highlights from Part 2:

• The Rhodes' comeback in modern music
• Watch Stefan Olofsson do his Al Jarreau and Steely Dan medleys on the Rhodes
  (scroll down after clicking link)
• The Jay Graydon "sonicscape" that transcended artists and eras
• Listen to Jay's KILLER solo on Steve Kipner's Knock the Walls Down
• And someone even wrote the music out to the solo in "The Ending!"
• Marc Jordan's Blue Desert
• Synching up Al Jarreau and the Jerry Hey horns
• The palm-mute and Jay's list of the "best rhythm guitarists of all time"

EPISODE 22.4: THE JAY GRAYDON GRAND FINALE

The third and final installment of our marathon conversation with yacht rock legend Jay Graydon - more stories, more insights, more laughs, more music...

Highlights from Part 3:

• The story behind Jay's album Past to Present - the 70s
• Working with (and without) Jeff Porcaro
• You'll never guess who Jay says was the best singer he's ever worked with
• More tricks of the trade
• The classic "After the Love Has Gone" story...with some new details from Jay himself.
• Make sure you check out the JaR project!

 

January, 2022

JAY GRAYDON - New Interview with Tom Cridland

Kicking off the new year with this lengthy interview Jay did with Tom Cridland, when Tom was visiting Garden Rake Studios recently. They cover a lot of interesting topics, like e.g. the development of music from around the 1930s until today, the problem with free music, how to get back to quality music, etc. etc. in this fun and extensive interview. Enjoy!

Jay Graydon - Greatest Music of All Time Podcast - 2022

 

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