JAC Recording, Inc., was a small

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

recording studio based in New York City at 152 West 58th Street. It was founded in the 1950s by Charles Leighton, a virtuoso classical and jazz harmonica player, who, in the 1950s, took on Jack Arnold as a partner, who also was a pianist. The JAC acronym stood for "Jack and Charlie." The studio was Leighton's personal residence — apartment 8D.

Phil Ramone Philip Rabinowitz (January 5, 1934March 30, 2013), better known as Phil Ramone, was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, and co-founder of A & R recording studio. Its success led to expansion ...

, a prolific recording engineer, entrepreneur, founder, and co-owner of A & R Recording Inc., was first mentored in the art of studio engineering by Leighton at JAC in the late 1950s. Ramone had left JAC in 1958 to start his own recording studio with the help of Jack Arnold, as partner. The "A & R" stood for Arnold and Ramone.

History

The early years of JAC were devoted to jingles and demos. In the early 1980s, Leighton began recording jazz and blues artist.

External links

Biography of Charlies Leighton
, Mega Mouth Records,

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Selected recording artists

Lew Anderson Lewis Burr Anderson (May 7, 1922 – May 14, 2006) was an American actor and musician. He is widely known by TV fans as the third and final actor to portray Clarabell the Clown on ''Howdy Doody'' between 1954 and 1960. He famously spoke Cl ...

(1983) * Phil Bodner * Walter Bolden *

Frank Capp Francis Cappuccio (August 20, 1931 – September 12, 2017), known professionally as Frank Capp, was an American jazz drummer. Capp also played on numerous rock and roll sessions and is considered to be a member of the Wrecking Crew. Biography ...

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

Jimmy Cobb Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb (January 20, 1929May 24, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. He was awarded an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship in 2009. Early life Cobb was born in Washington, D.C., on J ...

Hank Crawford Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist, pianist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was musical director for ...

* Dardanelle Hadley :: ''(née'' Marcia Marie Mullen; 1917–1997) *

George Duvivier George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist. Biography Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...

Helen Forrest Helen Forrest (born Helen Fogel, April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer of traditional pop and swing music. She served as the "girl singer" for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era (Artie Shaw, Benny Good ...

Morgana King Maria Grazia Morgana Messina (June 4, 1930 – March 22, 2018), better known as Morgana King, was an American jazz singer and actress.Liner notes by Joel Dorn – Morgana King album ''The Complete Reprise Recordings'' (2000).Liner notes by Ed Osb ...

Peggy King Peggy King (born February 16, 1930) is an American jazz singer. She was a member of big bands led by Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan, and Ray Anthony. Career "Pretty Perky Peggy King", as she was called, appeared on ''The George Gobel Show' ...

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

Junior Mance Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early life (1928–1947) Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...

George Masso George Masso (November 17, 1926 – October 22, 2019) was an American jazz trombonist, bandleader, vibraphonist, and composer specializing in swing music, swing and Dixieland. Masso is notable for his work from 1948 to 1950 as a member of the Jim ...

Butch Miles Charles J. Thornton, Jr. (July 4, 1944 – February 2, 2023), known professionally as Butch Miles, was an American jazz drummer. He played with the Count Basie Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, ...

* Anne Marie Moss *

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

* Joe Newman * New York Saxophone Quartet :: Ray Beckenstein :: Dennis Anderson :: Billy Kerr :: Wally Kane *

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...

* Mary Osborne *

Charlie Persip Charles Lawrence Persip (July 26, 1929 – August 23, 2020), known as Charli Persip and formerly as Charlie Persip (he changed the spelling of his name to Charli in the late 1960s), was an American jazz drummer. Biography Born in Morristown, N ...

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He worked for NBC as a staffman from 1964, including for Dick Cavett (1971) and ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). Musicians he collaborate ...

Jimmy Ponder Jimmy Ponder (May 10, 1946 – September 16, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist. Career When Ponder's brother entered the military, he left his guitar, and Ponder picked it up. In his early teens he received lessons from the guitarist in a ban ...

Carmel Quinn Carmel Quinn (31 July 1925 – 6 March 2021) was an Irish-American entertainer who appeared on Broadway, television and radio after immigrating to the United States in 1954. Biography Quinn was born in July 1925 and educated in Dublin. Her fath ...

* Martin Rivera *

Jimmy Rowles James George Hunter (August 19, 1918 – May 28, 1996), known professionally as Jimmy Rowles (sometimes spelled Jimmie Rowles), was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored multiple styles in ...

* Sara Rubine *

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

Herbie Steward Herbert Bickford "Herbie" Steward (May 7, 1926 Los Angeles, California, United States – August 9, 2003 Clearlake, California) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was widely known for being one of the tenor saxophone players in '' Four Broth ...

Slam Stewart Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914December 10, 1987) was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before swit ...

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

(1982) *

Marlene VerPlanck Marlene Paula VerPlanck ''(née'' Pampinella; November 11, 1933 – January 14, 2018) was an American jazz and pop vocalist whose body of work centered on big band jazz, the American songbook, and cabaret. Life and career VerPlanck was born and ...

* Eddie Cleanhead Vinson (1982) *

Bill Watrous William Russell Watrous III (June 8, 1939 – July 2, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his rendition of Sammy Nestico's arrangement of the Johnny Mandel ballad "A Time for Love", which he recorded on a 1993 alb ...

(1983) *

Carla White Carla Ruth White (September 15, 1951 – May 9, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist. Biography White was born in Oakland, California, and raised in New York City, where she studied jazz dance. She began singing and acting in high school. She mov ...

; Audio drama * ''

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'', Vols. 1 & 2, Wonderland Records (1979)

Videos of Charles Leighton playing harmonica

*
Flight of the Bumble Bee
' (Cappy Lafell, soloist; Leighton is part of the ensemble)
Cappy Barra Boys Harmonica Quartet
from the 1945 film, ''

Rockin' in the Rockies Rocking or Rockin may refer to: Music Albums *Rockin' (The Guess Who album) * Rockin' (Frankie Laine album) 1957 Songs *" Hajej, nynjej" Czech children's carol, recorded as "Rocking" by Julie Andrews on ''Christmas with Julie Andrews'', 1982 *" ...

''
Tuesdays at Charlie Leighton's
with Will Galison, Charlie Spranklin, Randy Weinstein, and

Rob Paparozzi Robert Steven "Rob" Paparozzi (born October 14, 1952) is an American Grammy-nominated harmonica player and vocalist from New Jersey. In the early 1970s, Paparozzi fronted the Psychotic Blues Band, a blues rock group which played extensively in t ...

Affiliated audio engineers

* Jack Arnold * Don Frey * Charles Leighton *

* Bill Schwartau ''(né'' William H. Schwartau; 1926–1985) (appointed Chief Engineer at

A & R Recording A & R Recording Inc. was a major American independent studio recording company founded in 1958 by Jack Arnold and Phil Ramone. History Before founding A & R Recording in 1958, Arnold and Ramone had been working at JAC Recording, Inc.; Arnold ...

, December 1958)

References

{{coord, 40.76566, -73.97861, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Recording studios in Manhattan