You have seen him on stage everywhere…from shows with Mindi Abair and Peter White to cruising with Dave Koz and Friends at Sea, and all over Los Angeles.  His blazing guitar licks have wowed crowds and in some cases, brought our beloved smooth jazz to a new level that Mindi likes to call “Stadium Jazz!”  This month, SmoothViews brings you guitarist, and Los Angeles native, Jay Gore.

Jay Gore describes his family as “just a little musical” and is not sure where his talent comes from.  “My dad can play a little guitar. When I was a small child he would play guitar around the house, mostly Gordon Lightfoot and Beatles songs. My mom is pretty much tone deaf. Hehe...love you mom!”  At the ripe old age of nine, Jay picked up the guitar, and started taking lessons at a local music store, but wasn’t very into it.  Then something happened.  “About a year later, my dad took me to a KISS concert. When I saw that, it changed my life. I knew it was what I wanted to do...be on stage, playing my guitar. From then on, I was really motivated to play and practice, my guitar.”

As a kid/teenager, Jay was mostly influenced by Eddie Van Halen, who is still his all time favorite. “When I was 16, I got my high school diploma and went to G.I.T., (Guitar Institute of Technology, and part of the Musicians Institute). In those days it was only a one year school. Up until that time I didn't really take guitar lessons. I was very much self taught. I had/have really great ears - they frame my head very nicely! I could hear anything and play it, but I had no idea, theoretically, what I was doing. G.I.T. really helped with all of that.  While there, I studied with teachers like Norman Brown, Ross Bolton, Tommy Tedesco and many others. It was an amazing experience.”  Who knew that years later, as a musician on the Dave Koz cruise this year, Jay would have the chance to be on stage performing with Norman Brown and Ross Bolton.  “All 3 of us together on stage was a very surreal and proud moment for me.”  Some other influences include Al Di Meola, Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix.

Jay has had the good fortune to play with so many amazing artists. His musician’s life started way back in the 8th grade with his school friends, most of whom he is still friends with. “We were called Frequency. We would have band practice in our garages after school and play at the Troubadour on weekends. It was an amazing time. When I was 18, I started playing with '70's mellow rock band, Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. Soon after that, I played with Sly Stone for a few years. I never toured with him, just recording. I played on several albums worth of material that was never released. It was an incredible experience, Sly and me in his studio, alone, a few days a week for about 2 years. He taught me soooo much!! Amazing guy.”  Through these times Jay was also playing the Sunset strip rock clubs, Gazzari's, The Roxy and the Whiskey. It was around that time that he met Mindi Abair. “Who knew that years later she'd call me to stand next to her on stage every night? So glad she did!!!!”  Since then Jay has played with other Smooth/Contemporary jazz artists like Peter White, Dave Koz, Warren Hill, Brian Culbertson, Keiko Matsui, Michael Lington, Jeff Golub, Gregg Karukas, Paul Brown, Marion Meadows, Lalah Hathaway, Rick Braun, Paul Taylor, Eric Darius, Vincent Ingala, Jonathan Fritzen, Kirk Whalum and Euge Groove.  Outside of the jazz world he has played with Lauryn Hill, Hilary Duff, Glenn Hughes, Bobby Kimball (Toto), Constantine Maroulis, Stephen Bishop, David Pack (Ambrosia), Keb Mo, Debby Ryan, Siedah Garrett and Eddie Money.

This past September was the first time Jay was part of the house band on the Dave Koz & Friends At Sea Cruise in the Mediterranean.  How these musician learn all of the music necessary to back up the number of headlining artists is beyond my comprehension, but Jay did it and had a terrific time.  “It's always an amazing experience doing anything with Dave Koz, especially something on the level of his cruises. He is a one of a kind human being. I consider myself very privileged to know him, let alone be able to work with him. I can't say enough about how great that entire cruise experience was, every aspect of it, every detail from the production staff, crew, musicians and artists. I was extremely proud to be a part of it.”  Even with the amazing array of artists Jay has performed with, there are always the dream gigs.  For Jay, it includes James Taylor, Sting, Steely Dan, Steve Perry and Kenny Loggins.

And if recording and performing with all of these artists didn’t take up enough time, Jay just finished his first solo CD, Identity. It is available on CDBaby  (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jaygore).  “I'm very excited about it. I wrote and performed a song with Peter White for the CD, called “BFF.” We are both very proud of it.  The CD is a very stylistically diverse collection of songs and there are several with guest vocalists. There's a lot of acoustic guitar and a lot of what people would expect from me, as well.”

Jay loves staying in touch with the fans and can be found and contacted in numerous ways.  So, in addition to catching him all over Los Angeles and the U.S., check out the following links and be sure to drop Jay a line.
Twitter: @JayGoreGuitar
www.facebook.com/JayGoreOnGuitar
www.YouTube.com/JayGoreGuitar
Jay@JayGore.com