Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Jones.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jay. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It all started in church when I was three years old playing drums. I was inspired by the church band and wanted to play drums. As little as I was, I couldn’t reach the foot pedal so I only could play the snare and hi-hats. As time went by, at the age of 11 (maybe 12), I fell in love with the bass guitar. The bass guitarist at my home church use to sing and play, and I thought it was really cool he could do that. My dad had to learn a song by a gospel quartet group called the Canton Spirituals. The bass player for that group inspired me once again. Watching someone sing and play the bass while being so smooth, was really cool to me. So I would practice everyday! My fingers had blisters and calluses, but I didn’t care. I had to learn. By 15, I started playing in my very first quartet group. Guess what I was doing? Singing and playing my bass! I use to be so nervous, shaking and singing.
By 18, I created a home studio. It started off with just being able to record bass parts from home and send it back to producers who would hire me to play bass on major artist tracks such as “Come In (My Door’s Open)” by Day 26, “Intro” on Theater of The Mind album by Ludacris, and “In Cold Blood” by Rick Ross. It was becoming the new thing to be able to record from home. I always made sure I kept up with the movements and transitions of the industry to stay employed. Even though I thought I would only be recording bass, I surprisingly started to compose and produce songs. I started exploring with the idea of composing and producing when I was 15, with a recorder and FruityLoops (now known as FL Studio music studio software) to make beats. I didn’t feel like I was making quality music, so I told myself to just keep playing the bass. Little did I know in 2009, at the age of 22, I would be producing my first girls gospel group’s single. It was received so well by the group and listeners.
In this same time, I was still working a 9-5 job and gigging once in a while on my bass. What pushed me into the music world full time was when I got laid off from my 9-5 job. Initially, I was devastated and didn’t know what I was going to do next, and had no idea how I was going to do it. In less than six months, I got a call from a church in Miami called New Birth to become the full-time bass player. After serving as the full-time bassist for about three years, I was afforded an opportunity to be the full-time bassist for an agency band that performed across South Florida in various clubs, such as Blue Martini, and at private corporate events. This gave me the opportunity to travel the world doing major corporate events. From inspirations such as Marcus Miller and Rickey Minor, both being great bassist, Producers, and Musical Directors, in 2013, the idea sparked for me to do my first solo EP entitled “Jay’s Love Jones.” I was just testing it out, but to my astonishment, it was received extremely well.
In 2014, I created a follow-up self-produced live recorded album with DVD entitled “Levels Of Love: Live” and the support received for that one was more than I could ever imagine. It was a packed and sold out recording! In the same year, I had a stellar performance as a featured musician and band at the 9th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival, one of the most highly regarded and anticipated music festivals in the country. In February 2018, I had the opportunity of sharing the stage with Kent Jones as bassist on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Currently, you can catch me performing live on the stage at Crisp Eatery and Bar in Fort Lauderdale, FL every Thursday night for “The Jay Jones Experience.” As of today, I am the CEO of my label and entertainment company Basslinezmuzik Group. I’m not only a CEO but a gigging musician, composer, producer, and music consultant. Under Basslinezmuzik Group, I have produced many singles for other artists and more to come. Jay Jones’s latest released EP entitled “Jay Jones Fell Outta Love” came out January 1, 2020.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a smooth and rough journey all in one. Smooth as in God has always taken care of me in many instances where I could only see but so far. He’s ALWAYS seen where he was going to place me down the road, and always placed me in situations that were best for me even when it didn’t seem so great at the moment. The struggles have been the times when I’ve went weeks without gigs or calls, which meant financial difficulties were also present. Sometimes I didn’t know how certain bills would be paid. There were times when I would be going to rehearsals or gigs with a little bit of gas and wondering how I would make it back home, but I knew the reward at the end would be greater and it would work out somehow.
Basslinezmuzik Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is a Record Label and Entertainment Company, Basslinezmuzik Group. I specialize in playing bass guitar, producing, composing music, and also being a Music Director for live bands. I am known for playing bass guitar. What I am most proud of as a company is putting smiles on clients’ faces with the finished products as far as a client’s music being finished and seeing the audience move, groove and smile to the great sounds of a band I’ve put together. What sets me apart from other record labels and entertainment companies is Basslinezmuzik Group is a combination of a record label and entertainment company in one. Usually these are separate entities. Also, I don’t just compose and produce for other artist, but as the CEO, I am an active artist, entertainer, and musician myself who is very hands-on with everything.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
The proudest moment of my career so far was performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2018. This moment was special to me because years ago, I promised my mother that I would be a big musician and I would be performing on TV one day. She passed away in 2014, but the moment that dream became a reality I knew she would have been proud. It was also a joy to witness my then one-year-old son see his daddy on TV and watch him point and look back at me while saying, “Daddy, daddy!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Basslinezmuzikgroup.com
- Email: Jayonbass1@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayonbass/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jayjonesonbass/
Image Credit:
Teajai Grizzle
Jonathan Barnes Photography
DJazzproductions
AJ Shorter
aWfoto Photography & Film Co.
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