The YAYennings Quartet meets Julian Pollack

Jay Jennings is a Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter with Snarky Puppy. He grew up in the small town of Grapevine, TX. He was lucky to have a piano in the house growing up, which he considers his introduction to music education. Jennings started playing trumpet at age 11, and by 15, he was already playing professionally. In high school, he was selected to the Texas All-State Jazz Ensemble both sophomore and senior years, and he was selected for the High School Grammy Jazz Ensemble, which performed at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA. Jennings auditioned as a college freshman and was selected for a jazz soloist chair in the world-renowned One O'clock Lab Band at UNT.

When he was 22, Jennings joined the Dallas-based, symphonic rock band The Polyphonic Spree. He recorded and toured with them until moving to Brooklyn, NY in 2009. He eventually began touring with Capitol Records artist Eli "Paperboy" Reed in 2010.

Over the course of his career, Jennings has backed up some of the world's finest artists such as Aretha Franklin, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, The O'Jays, Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, The Four Tops, Broken Social Scene, Toby Keith and many more. Jennings lives in Los Angeles, CA.

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Julian Pollack / J3PO is an established pianist/keyboardist and producer. Described by Timeout New York as a musician who “deftly balances virtuosity with tenderness,” Julian is an in-demand sideman as well a leader of his own projects. When he was 18 years old, having just moved to New York City from his native California hometown of Berkeley, he was featured on Piano Jazz, hosted by Marianne McPartland—the syndicated NPR show. 

While in New York, he studied with pianists Brad Mehldau, Kenny Werner, and Jean-Michele Pilc. Professionally, Julian has recorded/performed with the likes of Marcus Miller, Michael League (Snarky Puppy), The Lesson GK, George Garzone, Chris Bullock (Snarky Puppy), Nani, Bob Reynolds, Rodney Green, Tierney Sutton, John Pizzarelli, Louis Cato (The Tonight Show), Grace Kelly, Ari Hoenig, Nir Felder, Gil Goldstein (Esperanza Spalding), Chase Baird (Antonio Sanchez), Amanda Brown (Adele), Evan “EMAR” Marien, Grace Weber, and many others.

This year sees the release of “Small Plates” under Julian’s moniker J3PO. The album is a collection of 12 tracks that range from simple lo-fi beats to complex jazztronica future house joints. Inspired by analog synths and sample-based music, the album fuses Julian’s love for today's contemporary production styles with a nod to the jazz tradition and the spontaneity of live music and improvisation.

In addition to his two piano trio albums—Infinite Playground (2010 - Junebeat Records) and Waves of Albion (2013 - Berthold Records) Julian has also written music for orchestra, including his own Piano Concerto (2012) and Night Flower (2013), and has performed internationally with orchestras around the world. This year he completed his first feature film score for the movie The Sound Of The Wind, which will premiere in late 2019.

Julian recently worked with Nord Keyboards on a special artist series sound bank exclusively for the Nord Stage 3, the “J3PO Signature Sound Bank.” Please visit the Nord website and the Nord YouTube channel to see Julian demonstrate the patch bank and to download the sounds.

Currently residing in Los Angeles, he runs his own studio, Bridge + Water Productions, and produces and mixes artists from around the world.

Julian is endorsed by Nord Keyboards, Dave Smith Instruments (Sequential), and Strymon Engineering FX pedals.