Brand New Day - Instantdust
The last record I recorded in LA with the band Brand New Day....Mika Greiner - Vocals....George Roelke - Bass....Marty Wilcox - Drums....JJ Guitars....All the guys had input on the sessions with Mika and I heading up the music and lyrics....Recorded at A Little Greek Room....Extasy Recording Studios & Interscope 2000-2001....I thought it was a great band with great performances and solid writing on the record....we certainly had a lot of fun recording and playing these tracks out live in support of the release
Brand New Day - 2nd Record - Lo-Fi Demo's
This would have been the follow up record to Instantdust....I had relocated back to Boston to record the demos and had every intention to go back to LA to record with the band at Interscope and Mission 30 studios...Life as it so frequently does had other intentions and only the demos remain for the 2nd release....I am doing the vocals and performed all the tracks on the entire recording so please be kind in your overall judgement of the record...Had the band recorded it with Mika on vocals I think we would have had a wonderful record but I think the tunes as they are on Lo-Fi standup on their own....JJ
Joe James - Cosa Nostra for El Becko
Here are a few tracks I wrote for one of my all time music idols and mentors Jeff Beck...Along with Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Townshend (the all English club) and many others all I ever wanted to do since I was a kid was play and write like my mentors....I wrote this stuff in LA & Boston but didn't track it until I was done writing the tunes for The Low-Fi Demo's record....at this stage all I wanted to do was take a break from writing lyrics and lead singers and focus on playing guitar and jam over tracks....My dear friend Paul Womack from NY produced some of the tracks including "Step On Up"...Beck is Beck but I had fun trying to mimic him....JJ
World Gone Mad - Don't Fear
This was a short lived band....We were working in a newly built studio in Hollywood that needed to be broken in / tested...I rounded up some of the regular players that had really become my session guys (Paul LeVeque keys / Paul Horrell drums / George Roelke bass) and vocalist Travis Childs who was touring California with a band he grew up with in Texas...after I saw the band I really wanted to work with Travis and my brother David knowing the band introduced us...so he came in and we tracked some old material as well as me writing some new tunes for him to sing....Not bad....just different....JJ
Soul Talkers - Color Us Blue
This was the last record we did during my run (12 years) at A&M Records...(more on that later elsewhere on this site). The lineup still featured my dear friends and longtime stalwarts Paul LeVeque Keyboards & Wynn Rocha Vocals....I'll go through the band lineups on another page but to keep it short they were with me on a lot of tunes....We were really coming into our own on this record....I think the compositions and performances really stand the test of time and as you can probably tell we had a blast doing this record and it is what it is....it rocks....JJ
Soul Talkers - Queen Who Rules The World
On this record we were going through personnel changes in the band that may have carried over into Color Us Blue....it's a little hazy at this point....Paul and Wynn were on this but it may have been Steve Giba on drums who was the original drummer....may have been Paul Horrell on drums for a few tracks not sure and Roger Baer I believe was on bass who was also an original band member. This was a pretty good record as well...I was getting into writing a little more pop tunes as evidenced by "Don't You Love Me" and "In The Rain" as well as some personal changes happening around me which brought "Could It Be" and "Queen Who Rules The World"....more on the particular songs on another page....JJ
Oddities & Out-takes
As I continue to review tracks and session tapes from my career I will add to this area "Oddities & Out-takes"....I will Identify the band or maybe the band members at the time of the recording.... I wrote many a good song during rehearsals or in the studios to 2 track but never fully produced the work...I will add anything that I feel is acceptable to this space...JJ
Soul Talkers - The Wait
This was the first incarnation of the band Soul Talkers with the incredible vocals of Gonz Ozen....This was an exciting time for me as I was coming into my own at A&M as well as being a musician and writer on a personal level....You couldn't help but get better when you were surrounded by the top producers, engineers, technicians and musicians in the world and that's no bull....A&M was the place to be in the late 80's and all the creative juices were flowing....This band I believe was Gonz, Steve Giba - drums, Roger Baer - bass and Paul LeVeque - Keys....JJ
All Shook Up - All Shook Up
This was one of my first bands I put together when I started working at A&M Records & Studios in 1987....I had some pretty good bands prior but this was my initial tracking band at A&M....Nelson Anderle was the very talented lead vocalist and harp player introduced to me from my dear friend Fred Bova...Fred was one of my all time favorite guitar players whom actually performs on many of my tracks....This was the start of my relationship on with my dear friend and exceptional engineer Mike Baumgartner....more details to come later on the many friends and associates that made all this tracking over a 12 year span possible....JJ
James Morman House - Bring It Home
This was the first successful band I formed when I got to LA and man did I luck out....Working out of Dhu-Ron Studios in Hollywood...I was very fortunate to receive an introduction to the one and only Ralph Morman through my brother David at a party in LA....an amazing singer whom I had followed from his stints in the Joe Perry Project and Savoy Brown so believe me when I say I was a big fan and totally thrilled ...We just hit it off right away and started working together jamming and hanging out being joined later by Bill House who was a main stay at Dhu-Ron...I love the tunes on this record we had a blast making it and I am so blessed to have worked with Ralph and the guys that made this record possible...Ralph Morman - Vocals...Bill House - Vocals & Guitar... Marc Renneman - Bass... Eric Hartman - Drums... Rick Lowell - Sax... Mike Whipple - Keys...I apologize I don't remember who the engineer was on the sessions I'll try and find my notes but he did a great job as well....JJ