Jay Elle

Jay Elle is a pop rock alternative singer, songwriter and guitar player currently residing in New York City. He brings warmth and energy through “five star” guitar-driven melodic songs. Jay’s album, RIDE THE WAVE, was on the ballot in the 2022 Grammy® awards in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. The song “TEQUILA KISS” reached number 19 on the TOP 40 National Radio Hits.

Jay Elle’s latest release, the 12 song album “Ride the Wave”, was  arranged, mixed and produced by Caleb “kbc” Sherman (Cygnus Sound  Studio). The album was mastered by Paul Logus (plxmastering.com).

“RIDE THE  WAVE: Nominated for ALBUM OF THE YEAR. If you aren’t listening to Ride  the Wave right now, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

IndieShark

“This is a juggernaut of an LP… an instant classic in my book for sure.” 

Melody Maker

“This is a tremendous record… trustingly relatable.” 

Mobyorkcity

“The pandemic feels like one of those endless rainy days that I hated as  a child. Boring!!!!!” says Jay Elle. “Back then, on rainy days I  couldn’t go out. According to my mom, if I were to get my hair wet I  would most certainly catch a cold. Apparently, everyone else’s mother  thought so too. There was no one to hang around with on rainy days. At  home, I was on lock down with the same old toys. No guitar then. No  Internet. This new album is about how to best enjoy yourself while  waiting for the sun to shine again.”

Whether he relies on pop, rock, or more intimate voice and guitar  arrangements, Jay Elle obviously puts a lot of effort into crafting  excellent lyrics with powerful messages. His latest release, the LP  “Ride the Wave” focuses on sharing his way to deal with the pandemic. “I  think that much of what we do in life is ride one wave after another,  as best as we can. Some waves are fun to ride, like recording a new  album, and some are tough. Riding a pandemic is no picnic. But what  choice do we have? I take life as it comes, and ride the wave. As my  friend Jett Harris reminded me, “Surfers are really cool interesting  people and their philosophy on surfing is very similar to your analogy  of waves and life. The adage “Luck is when opportunity meets  preparation” is appropriate as you never know when you’re going to get  the opportunity to ride that really great perfect wave, but you hope to  be ready to take advantage of it. If not you’ll find sympathy in the  dictionary between sh*t and syphilis.”

All of the songs on this new album are fun waves to ride. “Ride the  Wave”, of course, and “Want Me Bad, “Miss Mess”, “Rainy Day”, and a song  written for The Vampire Diaries actress, Nina Dobrev: “Tequila Kiss”  (Instagram @nina). “I am a big fan of Ms. Dobrev. So, I wrote a song  about my experience as a fan and follower: “Tequila Kiss”. I do think  Nina is a terrific actress. If we ever meet, I would love to discuss how  she prepares for a part. She is “all emotion”. And always very precise.  And very entertaining, on screen and on Instagram.”

Music was always part of Jay Elle’s upbringing, especially at family  gatherings and celebrations. And at home, the radio was always on.

His best friend from school, Philippe Blin, and a musical cousin both  kindled Jay Elle’s musical curiosity when they showed him how to play a  few chords on his guitar. But his lifelong obsession with the beauty and  power of song accelerated when his aunt bought him a guitar of his own.  According to Jay Elle, “I became more interested and dedicated more  time to guitar playing and songwriting than other activities. I would  get this spine tingling feeling when I heard certain songs, a blast of  energy, like I could do just about anything. It felt hopeful and  positive.”

The positive energy of music eventually lead Jay Elle to enroll at the  Geneva Conservatory of Music, where he studied theory, composition,  classical guitar, and singing. But Jay Elle’s heart was more attuned to  popular music, and he soon joined a band and was quickly immersed in  blues, rock, jazz and pop. “I listened to a lot of guitar heroes,” says  Jay Elle. “Between the rigor of rendering a classical piece as it  was written, and the open fields of blues or jazz improvisation, I feel  that the pop song format is ideal if you can bring some of these  elements together to serve a great melody and meaningful lyrics.”

His passion for blues, jazz, and pop lead Jay Elle to relocate to the  country where it all began, the United States. Living in New York City  opened up a lot of musical opportunities. After meeting  singer/songwriter/producer Margaret Dorn (Bette Midler, Boz Scaggs, Judy  Collins, Rosanne Cash), Jay Elle was soon playing guitar on her albums  and co-writing songs with her. Jay Elle also worked closely with  entrepreneur Bill Aucoin, best known for managing Kiss and Billy Idol.  In New York, Jay Elle formed a jazz ensemble with composer/guitarist  Byron Estep, who is perhaps best known as the executive director of Blue  Man Group. Jay Elle’s time in NYC also lead to working with John Dubs  (Front 242), who was instrumental in honing his production chops.

But although Jay Elle has been fortunate enough to work and learn from  some important musical talents since landing in NYC, his focus, drive  and passion has been creating and performing his own songs. In 2017, he  released his first EP of original music, the critically-acclaimed  “Rising Tide”, produced by veteran engineer Warren Schatz (Evelyn  “Champagne” King, KC & The Sunshine Band, Vicki Sue Robinson).

In 2019, Jay Elle released a self-produced EP, “Ease Up”, mixed and  mastered by Grammy nominated engineer/producer Brent Kolatalo (Lady  Gaga, John Legend, Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, OneRepublic,  etc.). “Ease Up” featured a collection of groovy, uplifting, guitar  driven songs. All of the tracks presented a positive attitude toward a  life event that Jay Elle experienced or witnessed. With “Ease Up”, Jay  Elle stated, “I want to share optimistic and positive messages that  focus on looking forward and moving on from imperfect situations. I’m  optimistic about the future and I want to share that viewpoint.”

“‘Ease Up’ is full of extremely pleasant,  well written and nicely arranged music. It has all the elements of  great writing, melody, outstanding groove, excellent recording and a  whole bunch of subtle, musical beauty. Let’s say that this recording has  rekindled hope in me that there really still are artists out there who  know how to make great melodic music.” 

!jamsphere

“Jay Elle’s music is heartwarming,  organic and nurturing. He also has this pizzazz to him that is beyond  charming. In “Ease Up (Into Love),” one of the singles off of his new  EP, Jay finds a way into our souls, blessing us with a gem that oozes  with feel-good vibes.” 

~ ratingsgamemusic