At the end of the 60’s Jay played the trombone in the streets of Chicago in the High
School Marching Band”. In 1972 it was at “Indiana University”, where he avoided the
draw to be sent to Vietnam and discovered the bass, the blues, and campus life…
In the mid-70’s he went off to Austin and became a member of the worst group in
town… but the first group to play in the legendary Continental Club. He was a regular at
Antone’s Blues Club where he listened to The Fabulous Thunderbirds every Thursday
night.
In the middle of the Punk scene, we find him in New York for three years. He frequented
CBGB’s and saw Lou Reed, Richard Hell… he lived in the “Lower East Side” and got by
as he could as a waiter and taxi driver.
In 1980, he sold his bass to buy an airplane ticket and discovered the South of France
“Provence”. He also discovered French Cuisine and the cuisine of “Chez Ernest” where
he became a cook while at the same time putting together a blues band with the
celebrated caterer from Cannes.
From the mid-80’s to 1999 Jay devoted all his time to music. We could find him along
side Yohan Asherton, Les Froggies, Jesse Garon, Jacno, Paris Slim, or in concert with
Elliot Murphy as well as the manager bass player of the Transcontinental Cowboys.
He got back to Austin as a tour manager with Erick Marchand and Donnisulana and then
crisscrossed North America again with D’Gary. Back in Paris he co-founded the record
shop and label Cinq Planetes. After all that Jay dedicated himself to helping business
managers and staff improve their English while at the same time rediscovering Bob
Dylan, his Irish origins, new recipes and in the end the desire to play again.
