Jay Soto : A Phoenix-based Guitarist Flying High!
Jay Soto (his full name is Joseph Jason) is the new sensation in the Smooth Jazz guitar world. His latest piece of work “Stay Awhile” (released in May 2007) quickly made its way to the top of the R&R Smooth Jazz Chart, with the single “Slammin”, that has been in the top 5 for 35 weeks and is still currently in the top ten. Soto’s playing style is vibrant, energetic and infected with great innovative groove. So, please, stay a while on www.smoothjazznow.com to discover this Phoenix-based talented musician!

 
     
 

Akbar Nour : Hello Jay, welcome to www.smoothjazznow.com. You are doing very well with your latest album “Stay Awhile”, with the main single “Slammin” still ranked in the R&R Smooth Jazz chart top ten. Wow! What an amazing popular recognition for your second album! How do you feel about it?

Jay Soto : It’s almost indescribable. What probably seems to most as overnight success, really took many years to achieve. As radio becomes more of a tough door to open, it certainly is something I don’t take lightly. I’m honored and grateful that the radio world has accepted me, an artist seemingly coming out of nowhere. Slammin’s success is a pleasant surprise to me as well as the label. It’s quite edgy with a funk/rock feel to it and for the Smooth Jazz radio format to embrace it like that is pretty amazing.

 
  
   


Akbar : It seems that music has come to you as a gift. You learned to play drums at age 5, then piano and you picked up your first guitar at age 12. How did music come to you so early? What were your main musical influences and nowadays?

Jay : The only thing in life I knew for certain, even at the age of 5, was that I wanted to play an instrument and do it for the rest of my life. I didn’t grow up in a musical family, although they were very supportive of my music ambitions. At 13, my first guitar instructor introduced me to Jazz. He had me listen to a variety of Jazz guitarists and once I heard what Joe Pass could do with the guitar, I fell in love with Jazz guitar. Although not a straight-ahead Jazzer myself, I have the utmost respect for the harmonic complexity coming from guys like Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, George Benson, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Tal Farlow, Jim Hall, John Scofield, etc. The same guys I listened to back when I was a kid are those I listen to now.

 
  

Akbar : Your religious faith seems to play an important role in your musical career. You have played as the lead guitarist for a Christian group called Vessel and you are currently involved in your church as a musical director. Could you tell us more about these experiences?

Jay : Well, just as music came to me, so did playing for church. It’s something I’ve done since I was 11 years old. When I was 19, I was offered a part-time music director’s job at a small parish in the rural town of Buckeye, AZ. Since then I’ve directed at two other churches, including St. Helen’s in Glendale where I still direct, for now. It’s sort of a Bailey’s Building and Loan situation (It’s A Wonderful Life) where I’ve spent the last ten years trying to jump-start my career and move on!!! LOL. Honestly, It’s where my chops as a musician really took shape and I’ll always have a heart for playing for church, but if this past year is any indication as to my future success as a recording artist, I may have to break away for a while.

Akbar : You had some of your songs aired on TV on popular shows such as “Sex and the City” and “All About Us”. How did it happen?

Jay : In the mid-90’s, I teamed up with a songwriter here in town and co-wrote many songs that were being pitched to film and television. Well, I think we submitted the right songs at the right time and the rest is history. A friend of mine recently busted my chops, jokingly, when he noticed on my bio that I play for church and in the very next sentence it mentions my cuts on Sex And The City!!

Akbar : You have been musically very active on the Phoenix music stage. But you really gained wider recognition in the US after your participation at two important guitar competitions: “Guitarmageddon” and “Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar festival”. What motivated you to attend such contests and what happened to you after that?

Jay : The “Guitarmageddon” competition was actually held as part of Eric Clapton’s Guitar Festival in 2004. I actually got talked into it by a friend who worked for Guitar Center in Phoenix. I really didn’t want to do it at first, but they talked me into it. Winning the local store round was one thing, but when I made it the grand finals a couple months and a few more rounds later, I knew I needed to do something more with my guitar than what I had done in my life so far. It’s all about motivation and perseverance. Soon after the competition, I decided to produce my first album which has led me to where I am now.

Akbar : For your self-produced debut album “Long Time Coming” released in 2005, you were able to get Danish sax celebrity Michael Lington onboard. How, as a new comer on the smooth jazz stage, did you manage to achieve this?

Jay : I took a chance and reached out to him and he then took a chance on me. I sent him the track, he liked it and decided to be on my album. He was also very instrumental in helping me land a record deal.

Akbar : For your second album “Stay Awhile”, you signed with the famous record label “Nu Groove” and got smooth jazz giants as producers (Jeff Lorber, Paul Brown, Darren Rahn,  Mario Mendivil) and as musicians (famous R&B vocalist Jeffrey Osborne, great sax players Euge Groove and Michael Lington, who already performed on your first album, to name a few). How did you come up with such an impressive casting and how did the album come to fruition?

Jay : Establishing relationships was really the key factor. That old saying, “it’s who you know…” really has a lot of merit to it I think. It took time, but one person led me to another person and so forth and so on…

Akbar : Are there any interesting stories that happened during the recording process and that you would like to share with our readers?

Jay : I really plan to add my vocals to my next album and this little story helped me come to that conclusion. The day of the Jeffrey Osborne session, I met him in person for the first time. I was extremely excited about this since he’s always been one of my favourite R&B/Pop vocalists. At one point during a break, Jeffrey asked Darren Rahn and myself “who’s singing on the demo?” He thought it might have been Darren or someone else. When Darren pointed out that it was me who sang the demo, he replied with, “why didn’t you sing this tune yourself for the album?” He suggested that for my next album I sing a few songs at least. I thought at first maybe he was just being polite, but I think he really meant it which really made think, hmmm, maybe... I’m no Jeffrey but why not give it a shot.

Akbar : I should say that this album is a great piece of work with your bright guitar chops. How did you develop such a great technique?

Jay : I was a very hyper kid growing up and I think that led to my speedier guitar chops!! Actually, I’ve spent the last 23 years trying to perfect a particular right-hand picking technique called alternate picking. I don’t do a lot of “sweep” picking as many shredders do, I saw it more as a challenge to pick every single note that I play using a very strict down-up, down-up picking pattern, or alternate picking. I would run home from school and veg out in front of the TV and just pick and pick and pick with my right hand until one day, it became effortless. I still work at it.

Akbar : What advice would you give to young guitarists willing to break onto the smooth jazz stage?

Jay : First of all, I applaud any youngster for pursuing Jazz and in this case Smooth Jazz to help keep the genre alive. As I mentioned earlier, it takes motivation and perseverance. It sounds so simple but it’s really not. Ask yourself, “do I think about this dream when I wake up, do I think about when I go to sleep, do I think about it when I try not to think about it?” If the answer’s yes, then go for it. Now you just need to turn the “thinking about it” into “doing it.” Don’t sit around waiting for someone to offer you a career in Smooth Jazz or any other genre in the biz. Just go for it with everything you’ve got. Of course, it helps if you can play!!

Akbar : What is quite peculiar is that you are a brilliant guitarist and despite of that you mainly compose your tracks with a piano. How comes?

Jay : I think for writing music, nothing beats the piano. I am very blessed that even though I’m a guitarist, I can play the piano at a professional level as well. At a very early age, I initially used the keyboard as my instrument of choice for writing, even before I started playing the guitar. If I played the guitar first, I might be writing more with my guitar.

Akbar : So, let me come back to “Stay Awhile”. On the one hand, you have funky-oriented bumpy tracks (“Stay Awhile”, “Make It Happen”, “Slammin” (your first single and smash hit doubled with a great horn section composed by Jason and Darren Rahn), the catchy “Grooveland” (my favourite with keyboardist Jeff Lorber in top form), the groovy “Holding On”, nice cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Send One Your Love” (with Michael Lington’s expressive sax), “City Slicker” and “Jaywalking” (on which there is a musical dialogue between great sax player Euge Groove and you). On the other, there are more smooth and emotional tracks (“Just Like That”, “Love Has Found A Way” (with Jeffrey Osborne’s soulful voice), “Midnight Drive”, sweet “Daydreamin”). It is a great balance between groove and emotion. Did you have these in mind when recording the album?

Jay : Absolutely. There was an added challenge of getting all the tracks to gel and fit onto one album considering I had 5 producers including myself. That was definitely the biggest challenge. Toward the end of the album’s production, I noticed that I didn’t really have any ballads, and though I still really don’t have any slow ballads on the CD, I decided to write and produce Daydreamin’, the slowest track on the album. I really needed to bring down the tempo midway through the tracks.  

Akbar : I should say that most of the tracks on this album are potential hits. How did you come to select “Slammin”?

Jay : That was actually the label’s decision. At first, I wasn’t sure about the idea, but in retrospect, that was the smartest choice for a first single. Slammin’ did it’s job with flying colors and now I’m getting ready to release my next single, Stay Awhile, the title track.

Akbar : Well, after you have reached success with this album, what are your next projects?

Jay : Before I go too much further into my next CD release, it’s time in my career to really get out in the world and be seen and heard. I’m adding quite a few tour dates now, but I think it’s going to get pretty crazy soon. That’s a good thing!!!