Biography

Jay Gaunt began playing harmonica at the age of 12, developing a passion for blues music. One of Jay’s first exposures to blues was The Blues Brothers movie and shortly thereafter he went to see Dan Aykroyd (in full Elwood mode) when he was hosting Chick Willis & Dwight Edwards at the Opus Theater in New York (June 2006). Dan called up Jay to sit in for the encore. The moment he stepped on stage and played the Mississippi sax, Jay was hooked. Since then he has been hungrily seeking out everything he can find that relates to harmonica, blues and roots music.

While Jay’s favorite music is the blues, he is not limited to just one genre. He also plays jazz, funk, and rock. Jay’s main influences on harmonica are James Cotton, Jason Ricci, Little Walter, Dennis Gruenling, Paul Butterfield, Chris Michalek, Sonny Boy Williamson, Kim Wilson, and Junior Wells. However, Jay does not only listen to harmonica players, but also draws influences from an array of musicians as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and Donny Hathaway.

Jay met his first harmonica teacher Jon Paris when he sat in with him at Lucille’s Lounge at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Times Square in NYC. He began studying with Jon on both harmonica and guitar. In addition to weekly lessons with Jon Paris and Dennis Gruenling, Jay has also studied with David Barrett, Jason Ricci, Chris Michalek, Adam Gussow, Mark Hummel, and Michael Peloquin. Jay has shared the stage with the James Cotton Blues Band, Tab Benoit, Kenny Brown, Keith Sykes, Jason Ricci & New Blood, Bob Margolin, Rich DelGrosso, Eric McFadden, Zac Harmon, Jimmy Hall, Mark Hummel, Jon Paris, Rob Paparozzi, Michael Powers, Richie Canata, Victor Wainwright, Davis Coen, Treasa Lavasseur and Mike Zito.

In addition to performing at B.B. King’s Clubs in New York and Memphis, Terra Blues and The Cutting Room in NYC, Jay has also gigged at Ground Zero Blues Club, Rum Boogie and New Daisy in Memphis, and Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco to name just a few. Festival performances include The Greeley Blues Fest (2008 & 2009) and Blues from the Top (2008 & 2009) in Colorado as well as the Cape May Jazz Festival (2009) in New Jersey. In December 2009 he undertook his first European dates performing with Knut Reiersrud and The Alabama Lovesnakes in Oslo, Norway.

He is a regular attendee and performer at the annual SPAH conventions and is featured in the spring 2010 issue of Harmonica Happenings. A recent interview with Jay is posted at www.harmonica411.com and late fall 2009 he appeared in a New Jersey Network State of the Arts TV program that is posted on his YouTube channel.

In November of 2008, Jay released his debut album, Blown Away, with producer and musician Ed Ivey in San Francisco. Jay is working on his new project, recording at Royal Studios in Memphis, produced by Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell and Charley Burch, to be released in 2010.

Production contact charleyburch@yahoo.com 901-335-3152
Publicist Betsie Brown betsie@blindraccoon.com