Grammy-nominated · New York City
Jay Rodriguez Sierra
Saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, film composer, producer and arranger. Four decades at the center of New York music, from Celia Cruz and Prince to Elvis Costello, the Mingus Big Band and Fred Wesley.
“Mr. Rodriguez moves between idioms and energies as easily as he switches instruments.”
Next up · Sunday, November 1
Indigenous Percussion, Flute & Community Drumming Circle
Free · Family-friendly festival, 11 AM–4 PM · Rain or shine
Photo: Bill Douhart
Latest release
Muthaflower, a double album
Five years of pent-up music pour out of Muthaflower like a dam had burst. On Mutha, Jay leads Alex Blake, Victor Jones, Marvin Sewell, Fred Wesley, Julie Patton and Giovanni Hidalgo through music by everyone from Puccini to Dylan and Bill Withers. Flower is entirely Jay’s own compositions, with bass clarinet and flutes up front.
“Pure soul, pure groove… and pure NYC.” Marc Ribot
A life in the music
In the company of the music’s great voices
From the sidewalks of the Village with Arnie Lawrence in 1986 to Ornette Coleman’s living room, Chucho Valdés’s bandstand and Ziad Rahbani’s Beirut, Jay has spent a lifetime learning this music person to person.
Photo: Frank Prinzi
Watch
On the bandstand
What they’re saying
Press
“Prolific. Prodigal. Profound. That is Jay Rodriguez. It is perfectionism kissed by chaos.”
“Whatever compelled Rodriguez to avoid putting his name out front for all these years, he stands proud here.”
“Mr. Rodriguez is more than a musician. He is a visionary.”
Beyond the bandstand
Opening the door for the next generation
Jay is the founder and Artistic Director of Sound System Culture, a New York 501(c)(3) nonprofit. With poet Martha Cinader and the Listen & Be Heard Network, it puts microphones, stages and paid training in the hands of artists and young people who have been left out of both.