Ernie Isley was born into a very musical family and grew up with his older brothers forming a group and singing gospel. When Ernie was 14 years old he played drums as a member of the fam...
Clayton Ivey is proud to have been the first white producer to sign exclusively with Motown Records. As a result of his work at Motown (which was located in Los Angeles at that time), Cla...
Jeff Jacobs grew up in Chicago and remembers going to Gand Music to buy his first very own instrument, although his parents had an upright piano in their home. Jeff’s purchase was the eve...
Andre Jacquemin remembers the day he was asked to engineer some comedy records for a young group of writers in London. He thought, who will want a record with only jokes? That group of wr...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Al Jardine can be heard on the very first Beach Boys recording. The song, “Surfin’”...
Chris Jasper was the funk and soul keyboardist, singer and composer who played a key role in the Isley Brothers sound. He later helped form Isley-Jasper-Isley, which, like the Isley Brot...
Ella Jenkins earned the title The First Lady of Children's Folk Songs and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her dedication to bringing music to children. She began collecting and w...
David Jenson spent his early childhood in Southern California and was inspired early on by The Beach Boys and surf rock, but began his musical journey in earnest after moving to Utah and ...
Dr. Mable John played many roles for a wide variety of people. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, and friend. Her career as a ba...
Dr. John became the unofficial ambassador of New Orleans music by showcasing the mystic and voodoo rich traditions of southern Louisiana, which has become the backdrop to many Mardi Gras ...
Jimmy Johnson was a co-founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama along with fellow studio musicians Roger Hawkins, Barry Beckett and David Hood. The four musicians, known as th...
Syl Johnson recorded a string of popular blues and R&B songs in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, which have been inspirational for generations of musicians. Soul, funk and Hip-Hop artists hav...
Paul Johnson formed one of the early surf bands in Southern California during the golden era of instrumental music. As a guitarist and songwriter, Paul performed and recorded in the days ...
Bruce Johnston has been a member of the Beach Boys since the mid-1960s, first singing with the group on the hit "California Girls." He appeared on most of the groups albums, including th...
Quincy Jones! How can you write a few sentences to describe Quincy Jones? His long and amazing career in music has produced the soundtrack to many of our own life experiences and his driv...
Booker T. Jones grew up in Memphis and began recording as a session player while still in high school at the age of 17. While waiting for a session to begin, Booker and the other musicia...
Greg Jones grew up in Los Angeles and sang for a number of rock bands, which gave him the opportunity to write music. His songs can be heard on the television show "Smallville." Greg’s ...
Darryl Jones was born on the south side of Chicago into a musical family. His father taught him drums and xylophone at 7 years old. But when Jones saw his neighbor, Angus Thomas, playing ...
Laurence Juber, like so many kids in the 1960s, began playing guitar soon after hearing the Beatles for the first time. He couldn’t dream that one day his talents as a guitarist would all...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Dick Jurgens formed a popular dance band during the big ban...
Donald Kahn recalled the moment he first realized he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a songwriter. It was as a five-year old child playing under his father’s piano a...
Kurt Kaiser worked for Word Music beginning in 1959. Not only did he witness many of the changes to church music, many credit him for creating what is now known as contemporary Christian...
John Kay was an original member of the rock band Steppenwolf, whose hit song “Born to be Wild” helped redefine hard rock in the 1960s. The band enjoyed several other hits including “Magi...
Phil Keaggy was born in Youngstown, Ohio in the early 1950s, making his timing perfect to play a roll in the rock bands of the 1960s. As guitarist and songwriter, he was a member of the S...
Catfish Keith was proud to take part in the 40th anniversary of Santa Cruz Guitar Company in the fall of 2016. He not only performed on his favorite SCGC model on stage at the Rio Theate...
Irene Kelley was raised in a culturally rich musical home. HXer father was a musician as was her older brother, who played guitar in the Chet Atkins style. Irene learned to play the guita...
Sabine Kemna is sales director at Furore. The publishing house focuses exclusively on offering works by female composers. Sabine Kemna played percussion in a band and worked at music publ...
Gordon Kennedy is the songwriter behind such hits as Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Gypsy in Me.” As many may also know, Gordon is a sought after musician who has r...
Kamau Kenyatta grew up surrounded by a family that had a deep running passion for music, and as a result Kamau was able to get his first clarinet when his grandfather, an electrician by t...
Doug Kershaw is the wild man of Cajun music who has been a powerful ambassador for the musical style around the world for many decades. His passion and high energy performances gained the...
Bob Kilpatrick wrote his first song in the fourth grade and went on to pen one of the most popular worship songs in the last fifty years. In his early twenties, Bob and his wife performed...
Little Freddie King has become a mainstay within the New Orleans music scene. His energetic performances, often with high kicks, always feature his main instrument, the Gibson Flying V! ...
