This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Illinois Jacquet gained fame as a jazz saxophonist beginnin...
Paul Jameson was a pioneer in audio wholesaling as the founder of Custom Products, located in Magnolia, Arkansas. His company was among the first to sell microphones, PA systems and spea...
Richard Janda specialized in repairing stringed instruments. It was also something he enjoyed very much. During World War II he was trained to repair the band instruments for the U.S. Mil...
Carl Janelli played several instruments but was most fond of the saxophone. He began his career during the big band era and performed with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey before embarking on a won...
Roland Janes! There were musicians/engineers/producers and then there was Roland Janes! The man nearly single-handedly invented many of the engineering methods used in modern recordings...
Peter Janis played in school orchestra and rock bands growing up as his mother played piano in the home and encouraged him to pursue music. His first job in the industry was working at S...
Conrad Janis played a music store owner on the hit TV sitcom Mork and Mindy. Conrad, who became a trombonist as a teenager, played Mindy’s father, the owner of a musical instrument store ...
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...
Jack Javens loved the piano business and became one of the industry’s quintessential salesmen. He worked for the Aeolian Piano Company out of East Rochester New York beginning in the 19...
Stanley Jay always admired rare and special fretted musical instruments, so it came as no surprise when he and his friend, Haf Kuffner, opened a guitar shop on Staten Island in New York. ...
Brian Jemelian didn't think of himself as a musician, although he played violin as a child and later as an employee of Yamaha he took both piano and guitar lessons. Brian studied busines...
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...
Rodgers Jenkins was the founder of the Rodgers Instrument Corp., based outside of Portland Oregon. Under Rodgers leadership, the company developed a strong engineering team that created ...
JW Jenkins was president of the large music store chain in and around Kansas City that his great grand father first opened in 1878. His father, Paul W. Jenkins, kept the company running d...
Al Jensen began his musical career at the age of 13 playing clarinet in a Vaudeville show. That is, he played until his parents found out where he was playing. His band director convinced...
Marie Jensen was born in Rosebud, Texas as the daughter of a Texas Ranger. She graduated college in Houston with a business degree before meeting Al Jensen on a blind date. The two were m...
Art Jenson was known throughout the music industry for establishing Jenson Publishing in 1977. The company became one of the nation’s largest educational music publishers with a focus on ...
Mickey Jent opened a small music store in Lubbock, Texas after World War II with her husband, Ray, after his return from military service. The store became a hub for local musicians inclu...
Ray Jent sought to bring service to the Lubbock, Texas, community when he opened a music retail store just after serving in World War II. Ray worked closely with the school band directors...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Herb Jeffries was a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestr...
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 ...
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...
James Johnson was first and foremost a band director -- a well respected one at that! He opened Mississippi Music while still teaching and soon became involved with a long list of industr...
Mac Johnson, as she is known throughout the music industry, was the devoted wife of Mississippi Music founder Jimmy Johnson. She was also the mother of their sons, Bix and Dex, both of wh...
Merle Johnson was a past president of the famous EK Blessing Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Emil Karl Blessing opened a small brasswind valve company in 1906 and soon expanded his products ...
Robert Johnson served as a sales manager for Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) when the company first acquired the noted violinmakers William Lewis & Son. As a salesman, he worked clo...
Donald Johnson was known throughout the industry as DJ. He began working in music retail in 1958 in the San Jose, California, area before joining Coast Wholesale in 1961. It was an intere...
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...
Don Johnson received his degree in journalism and later landed the editor’s job at a recording industry trade magazine. Years later the magazine was sold to the owners of the Music Merc...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Gus Johnson played drums for several big bands and jazz ban...
Budd Johnson was a key member of the TEAC team that oversaw the development of the American branch of the company known as TASCAM. As a result Budd was there in the late 1960s through the...
Ray Johnson can be heard playing the rhythmic piano parts on such classics as "Traveling Man" by Ricky Nelson and "Rambling Rose" by Nat "King" Cole. After several sessions with his broth...
