At his core, Jay Sanders creates outside genre. The Nashville-bred bassist moved from Acoustic Syndicate's roots-fusion sound to work with Ornette Coleman and Bela Fleck. His musical education began with Regi Wooten's teachings and deepened through time spent with Sun-Ra drummer Samurai Celestial.

At Little Jumbo, the Asheville, NC cocktail bar he co-owns, Jay can be found mixing drinks, leading his jazz quartet every Tuesday and producing live recordings of regional jazz talent, serving both spirits and sounds to a growing musical community.

Lawrence Peryer: What is your first memory of music?

Jay Sanders: Church music as a child.

Lawrence: You want someone to understand you. What song or album do you give them?

Jay: Bill Frisell's Blues Dream — Bright and melodic with a dark side. Delicious harmonies. Psychic interplay.

Lawrence: What instrument(s) can you play?

Jay: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Dulcimer

Lawrence: What music do you and your significant other disagree about?

Jay: I prefer instrumental music because it is less defined and more abstract; in my opinion it leaves more emotional availability for the listener. She needs vocals and words with clear meaning.

Lawrence: What creative work or artist do you love or admire outside music?

Jay: The writing of Jack Kerouac, Richard Brautigan, and Haruki Murakami. The films of Wes Anderson and Akira Kurosawa.

Lawrence: What was your first concert?

Jay: Michael Jackson's Victory Tour.

Lawrence: What instrument do you wish you could play?

Jay: Viola, Nykelharpa, Piano (well... I can get around but I wish I could play like James Booker).

Lawrence: What person, dead or alive, would you like to share a meal with (and which meal of the day)?

Jay: Anthony Bourdain. Dinner. Because we would have to have some drinks and it would be wiser to do so after the sun sets; although I would gladly eat any meal he would like. I strive to live a life inspired by his love for culture and community. But most important: his fearlessness.

Lawrence: There's a band playing in Heaven tonight. Who is in it?

Jay: Ornette Coleman, Yusef Lateef, Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane are riffing while James Jamerson and Jimmy Nolen set the groove with Richie Hayward and Levon Helm. Miles is lurking, waiting for just the right moment to play his note. Mingus is conducting while William Burroughs, Hunter Thompson, and Richard Brautigan are trading extemporaneous lines. Kerouac is behind the bar mixing Rusty Nails and Last Words. Prince passed through carrying his guitar. He nodded his approval but keeps walking. He had somewhere to be.

Lawrence: What is your theme song?

Jay: The ever expanding and contracting vibrations of the universe.

Lawrence: Who is your musical hero?

Jay: Everyone. Any human being who is breathing creates their own music. I find this heroic in and of itself.

Lawrence: What was your first paycheck related to music?

Jay: Small bar gig in Nashville when I was 15.

Lawrence: When you were 15, your favorite artist, song, or album was:

Jay: When I was 15 I was listening to a strange combination of psychedelic rock, traditional Irish music, classical symphonies, prog, and pop. Although honestly, Mozart's Requiem really had my number back then. It was just so powerful.

Lawrence: Who is the biggest influence on your musical life?

Jay: Regi Wooten, Samurai Celestial, and Col. Bruce Hampton.

Lawrence: What artist is the most underrated or misunderstood?

Jay:  Sonny Sharrock. He was known for emptying clubs with his cacophonous noise guitar, but he was just trying to play in the same vein as Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy, and Rashaan Roland Kirk.

Lawrence: What was the last concert you saw?

Jay: Jonathan Scales Fourchestra.

Read about more innovative axe-wielders:

Guitarists - The Tonearm

The Tonearm is an online magazine devoted to music, arts, culture, and the creative people who make our world a better and more interesting place.

The TonearmLawrence Peryer