Leslie Ann Jones

Last updated
Leslie Ann Jones
LeslieAnnJones.jpeg
Leslie Ann Jones at work mixing
Born
United States
Occupation(s) Recording engineer, record producer
Parent(s) Spike Jones, Helen Grayco

Leslie Ann Jones is an American multiple Grammy Award-winning [1] recording engineer, working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Trustees, the organization that awards Grammys, and in 2018 was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame. [2] She is the daughter of novelty drummer, percussionist and bandleader Spike Jones and his wife, singer Helen Grayco.

Contents

Early influences

Leslie Ann Jones has had an interest in music since her early childhood in the Los Angeles, California-area TV and music scene. Through her father she was exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. Through her mother, Helen Grayco (who sang with her father's band), she grew to appreciate fine vocalists such as Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. She was given a Sears Silvertone electric guitar and played in a band beginning when she was fourteen. She played Top 40 hits on guitar and sang background vocals with an all-female band; she arranged music for other people's bands and assembled a PA system. In 1974, Jones served as road manager and live sound mixer for Fanny on their world tour. [3] Jones also made basement recordings for bands on an early Tascam ½" 4-track tape machine. She wanted to be another Peter Asher and produce bands. [4] Her favorite music is big band. [5]

Recording career

Leslie Ann Jones's first engineering job was at ABC Studios working as a production engineer, making copies of recordings. She worked as an assistant engineer for several years, training with Roy Halee, Reggie Dozier and Barney Perkins until being asked by John Mayall to lead the engineering of his live concert album Lots of People in 1977.

In 1978, Jones moved north to San Francisco, California to work at The Automatt, a recording studio known for cutting-edge developments such as automation in mixing, an innovation followed quickly by the purchase of one of the earliest digital audio recording systems. Jones recorded many cues for the Apocalypse Now soundtrack and recordings by Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana. She trained with engineer Fred Catero and producer David Rubinson. [6] She also recorded albums by Maze, Confunkshun, Holly Near, and Angela Bofill.

The Automatt closed in 1984 and Jones became a freelance engineer for three years. She engineered sessions for Windham Hill Records as well as for Olivia Records in their last few years of operation.

In 1987, Jones moved back to Los Angeles to work at Capitol Studios. That position lasted for ten years, during which time she furthered her reputation by engineering prominent jazz, vocal and classical recordings such as Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, and continued recording film and TV scores.

In 1997, Leslie Ann Jones began working with Skywalker Sound, where she continues to the present as Director of Music Recording and Scoring; she keeps busy recording orchestral scores, mixing film and video elements and recording and producing music albums. She enjoys playing on one of the intramural Skywalker softball teams. [7]

Promoting women

As a woman working in a field long dominated by men, Jones has participated in many 'firsts'. She was the first woman assistant engineer to be hired at ABC Studios in Los Angeles in 1975. [8] She was the first female National Officer of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Jones is on the advisory board of Women's Audio Mission. [9] WAM is a non-profit, women-run organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the recording arts. She also serves on the Recording Arts Advisory Board of Expression College of Digital Arts, serves as a Trustee for the San Francisco Chapter of The Recording Academy, is on the Board of Music in Schools today, and is an advisor on guest instructor for recording at Institute for the Musical Arts in Goshen, Massachusetts.

In 2001, Jones was invited to take part in Women in NASA's 6th Annual Virtual Take Our Daughters To Work Day, sponsored by Ms. Foundation for Women. [10]

Jones has produced a number of recordings that feature women musicians, from small regional groups like Montclair Women's Big Band [11] to major artists associated with feminism, activism or women's music such as Holly Near, Cris Williamson, Margie Adam and Ronnie Gilbert. Jones co-produced one of Jane Fonda's follow-up workout videos in 1984 and she received a platinum record for the album of the same name.

Awards

In 2018, Jones was inaugurated in the TEC Awards’ Hall of Fame as part of the NAMM Show.

Career chronology

Awards

Grammy Awards & Nominations
YearCategoryTitleNote
2003Best Engineered Album, ClassicalBach: The Piano Transcriptions Of Bartók, Lipatti & FriedmanNomination
2003Best Chamber Music PerformanceBerg: Lyric SuiteWin
2005Best Jazz Vocal AlbumGood Night, And Good Luck.Win
2006Best Engineered Album, ClassicalLátigoNomination
2010Best Engineered Album, ClassicalPorter, Quincy: Complete Viola WorksWin
2013Best Surround Sound AlbumSignature Sound Opus OneNomination
2013Best Engineered Album, Non-ClassicalThe Blue RoomNomination
2015Best Engineered Album, ClassicalAsk Your MamaWin
2019Best Engineered Album, Classical Sun Rings , Kronos Quartet Win
2021Best Immersive Audio AlbumSoundtrack of the American SoldierWin
2022Best Engineered Album, ClassicalChanticleer Sings ChristmasWin

Credits

Music albums

Film sound

TV shows

5.1 DVD concert sound

Video game scores

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbie Hancock</span> American jazz pianist and composer (born 1940)

Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles, using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this period that he released perhaps his best-known and most influential album, Head Hunters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norah Jones</span> American musician (born 1979)

Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and, as of 2023, had sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000s decade chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Shearing</span> British jazz pianist

Sir George Albert Shearing was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 songs, including the jazz standards "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Conception", and had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dianne Reeves</span> American jazz singer (born 1956)

Dianne Elizabeth Reeves is an American jazz singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Barretto</span> Puerto Rican jazz musician (1929–2006)

Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Latin jazz. His first hit, "El Watusi", was recorded by his Charanga Moderna in 1962, becoming the most successful pachanga song in the United States. In the late 1960s, Barretto became one of the leading exponents of boogaloo and what would later be known as salsa. Nonetheless, many of Barretto's recordings would remain rooted in more traditional genres such as son cubano. A master of the descarga, Barretto was a long-time member of the Fania All-Stars. His success continued into the 1970s with songs such as "Cocinando" and "Indestructible". His last album for Fania Records, Soy dichoso, was released in 1990. He then formed the New World Spirit jazz ensemble and continued to tour and record until his death in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Patitucci</span> American jazz bassist and composer

John Patitucci is an American jazz bassist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Herwig</span> American jazz trombonist

Lee Conrad Herwig III is an American jazz trombonist from New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliane Elias</span> Brazilian jazz musician (born 1960)

Eliane Elias is a Brazilian jazz pianist, singer, composer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestine Anderson</span> American jazz and blues singer

Ernestine Anderson was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival, as well as at jazz festivals all over the world. In the early 1990s she joined Qwest Records, the label founded by fellow Garfield High School graduate Quincy Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurindo Almeida</span> Brazilian guitarist and composer

Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He and Bud Shank were pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesky Records</span> US record label

Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Chesky artists include McCoy Tyner, Herbie Mann, David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, Joe Henderson, Macy Gray, Chuck Mangione, Paquito D'Rivera, Ron Carter, Larry Coryell, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Babatunde Olatunji, Ana Caram, and Rebecca Pidgeon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terri Lyne Carrington</span> American drummer (born 1965)

Terri Lyne Carrington is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many others. She toured with each of Hancock's musical configurations between 1997 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Klein</span> American musician

Larry Klein is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is based in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Catero</span> American record producer and engineer (1933–2022)

Fred Catero was an American record producer and engineer. Catero was originally from New York City, where he worked for CBS Records/Columbia, recording artists such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Invited by producer Roy Halee, Catero moved in the 1960s to San Francisco to work for Columbia Records there. In San Francisco, Catero worked on albums by Bob Dylan, Al Kooper, Tower of Power and Santana, many of these under producer David Rubinson at the Automatt. He also produced and engineered recordings with Aaron Copland, Janis Joplin, Linda Ronstadt and Mel Tormé. He also worked for the Automatt Studios, recording musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Santana. 

Wally Heider was an American recording engineer and recording studio owner who refined and advanced the art of studio and remote recording and was instrumental in recording the San Francisco Sound in the late 1960s and early 1970s, recording notable acts including Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Van Morrison, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Santana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">53rd Annual Grammy Awards</span> Edition of awards ceremony

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were announced on December 1, 2010 and a total of 109 awards were presented. Most of the awards were presented during the pre-telecast, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center next to the Staples Center, where the main telecast took place. The eligibility period was October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

Quartet San Francisco is a non-traditional and eclectic string quartet led by violinist Jeremy Cohen. The group played their first concert in 2001 and has recorded five albums. Playing a wide range of music genres including jazz, blues, tango, swing, funk, and pop, the group challenges the traditional classical music foundation of the string quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Regnier</span> Musical artist

Marc Regnier is an American classical guitarist.

The Automatt was a sound recording studio in San Francisco, California, promoted for its early mix automation system. During its eight active years, 1976 to 1984, it was one of the top recording studios in the region. The Automatt was founded by producer David Rubinson and opened in an existing studio subleased from Columbia Records, who continued to record in the same building for a few years; thus it was sometimes referred to as CBS/Automatt. Rubinson leased the whole building in 1978 and from that point, operated three rooms for recording and mixing, a mastering room, a rehearsal room, and offices. The studio complex was known for its top-notch equipment, for the hit records it produced, and for the famous artists who recorded there. Under Rubinson and chief engineer Fred Catero it served as the training ground for respected recording engineers such as Leslie Ann Jones and producers such as Scott Mathews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Remote</span> Musical artist

Steve Remote is an American audio engineer, mixing engineer, record producer, recording studio designer and owner from Queens, New York, United States. He is the founder and chief engineer of Aura Sonic, a mobile and location production company in New York. He has worked on 17 Grammy Award nominated albums, three of which have won.

References

  1. Hamlin, Jesse. "Grammy winner's sound advice", San Francisco Chronicle (2007-02-09): "On Sunday night, she may score her third Grammy...."
  2. [ dead link ]
  3. Gaar, Gillian G. (2002). She's a rebel: the history of women in rock & roll (2 ed.). Seal Press. p. 142. ISBN   1-58005-078-6.
  4. Maureen Droney. "Leslie Ann Jones: DOING IT ALL" Mix magazine online, August 1, 1999 Archived February 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Women of NASA. "Archive of Chat with Leslie Ann Jones" Archived 2008-09-22 at the Wayback Machine April 23, 1998
  6. "Studio Recording - Pro Sound Web". Prosoundweb.com.
  7. Women in NASA. "Leslie Ann Jones bio" Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Leslie Ann Jones- Having the Courage to Raise Your Hand". SoundGirls.org. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  9. "Board of Directors - Women's Audio Mission". Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  10. Women in NASA: 6th Annual Virtual Take Our Daughters To Work Day (2001) Archived 2006-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Montclair Women's Big Band: players Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Leslie Ann Jones - Skywalker Sound". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  13. "News, reviews, interviews and more for top artists and albums – MSN Music". Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  14. "Leslie Ann Jones - Skywalker Sound". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  15. "Leslie Ann Jones: Games Credited". Moby Games. GameFlyMedia.com. Retrieved June 25, 2011.