Jay Sanders :: Composer, Musician, Producer

Jay Sanders is an Asheville, N.C.-based musician, composer, producer, and bandleader known for his effortless ability to fuse jazz, rock, blues, metal, and African influences with years of improvisational study and training. Jay’s compositions on guitar and bass trend toward the melodic and sublime; expertly traversing between peaceful melodicism, free jazz, and cacophonous noise music. Jay claims Sonny Sharrock, John McLaughlin, Bill Frisell, Dave Holland, Ornette Coleman, and John Hartford among his primary influences.

Jay has recorded more than two dozen records and toured extensively across the U.S. and internationally as a member of Acoustic Syndicate, Snake Oil Medicine Show, Donna the Buffalo, and the E. Normous Trio. Jay is also a composer who has worked with the ETHEL string quartet, Rational Discourse, and scored several independent films.

His solo recording debut, Evanescent, was released on July 12, 2024. An exploration of influences and a musing on impermanence, Evanescent consists of seven original compositions and a tone poem dedicated to the Voyager spacecraft. Evanescent combines stylistic variations that explore the entirety of Jay's interests and influences into a smooth and satisfying story arc. The music is brought to life through the help of Jay’s long-time collaborators—many of whom are celebrated musicians from Asheville's music scene—including his long time collaborators Steve Alford, Justin Ray, Jacob Rodriguez, Zack Page, Evan Martin, Tyler Housholder. Local globetrotting fiddle phenom Casey Driessen is also featured.

Originally from Nashville, TN, Jay grew up surrounded by the immensity of Nashville's music scene. He has early studies with Regi Wooten opened his mind to the concepts of fundamental vibration, sacred geometry, and the Music of the Spheres. Jay later moved to Knoxville, TN, where he cultivated his curiosity through a series of extended conversations with former Sun-Ra drummer, Samurai Celestial. He formally studied music at Belmont Univeresity and the University of Tennessee.

This debut release that skirts the boundaries of jazz-rock, free-jazz and progressive metal-jazz. The jazz and improvisational elements accentuate most of these works, fueled by adrenaline rushes amid the broad arsenal. It's all been done before in various ways, shapes and forms, but this band integrates numerous genre-based inferences into its repertoire. With asymmetrical doses of swing, rock, and Sanders' fuzzed-out psycho guitar licks, the music generates remembrances of New York City's vibrant downtown scene, at times drawing comparisons to John Zorn's Naked City ensemble... the band counterbalances a feeding frenzy with softly woven innocence, and is a consistent paradigm throughout the program. Hence, it doesn't work within one particular formula, yet maintains a distinct group-centric persona. ~ Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz