Jay David Saks (24 January 1945 – 16 November 2024) was an American music producer.

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Saks grew up in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. His older sister was the cellist

Toby Saks Toby Saks (January 8, 1942 – August 1, 2013) was an American cellist, the founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and a member of the New York Philharmonic. Music history Born in New York City to an immigrant family, Saks began music less ...

. He studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, and later continued his studies at the

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

, from which he graduated in 1970. During the 1960's, Saks played bass guitar with

The Balloon Farm The Balloon Farm was an American musical group. Originally from New Jersey, the group took its name from a New York City nightclub. It is best known for its sole hit song, "A Question of Temperature," which made the ''Billboard'' charts in Fe ...

. Saks joined

Columbia Masterworks Columbia Masterworks was a record label started in 1924 by Columbia Records. In 1980, it was separated from the Columbia label and renamed CBS Masterworks. In 1990, it was revived as Sony Classical after its sale to the Sony Corporation. Histor ...

in 1972. In 1974, he moved to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, and served as an executive producer at RCA Victor (later Sony BMG) from 1974 to 2005. Saks was the recipient of 13

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

from a total of 53 nominations, and 2

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for his work on Broadway recordings,

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. Saks joined the Metropolitan Opera staff in 1979. For the company, he worked as a sound designer and engineer on radio broadcasts, television presentations, and the

Metropolitan Opera Live in HD Metropolitan Opera Live in HD (also known as The Met: Live in HD) is a series of live opera performances transmitted in high-definition video via satellite from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to select venues, primarily movie theaters, ...

cinema satellite transmission series. Of his 13

, four of them were for his Metropolitan Opera work. Saks retired from the Metropolitan Opera in 2019. Saks married Linda Nathan in 1972. The couple had two sons, Jeremy and Greg. Their marriage lasted until Saks' death on 16 November 2024, of

Parkinsonism Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements), Rigidity (neurology), rigidity, and balance disorder, postural instability. Both hypokinetic features (bradykinesia and akinesia) and hyperkinetic f ...

-related causes. His widow, their two sons, and their three grandchildren survive him.

References

External links

LinkedIn profile of Jay David Saks

IMDB profile of Jay David Saks

Discogs page on Jay David Saks

AllMusic.com page on Jay David Saks
1945 births 2024 deaths American record producers Juilliard School alumni Mannes School of Music alumni Metropolitan Opera people Columbia Records RCA Records Grammy Award winners Musicians from the Bronx American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists Deaths from Parkinson's disease {{US-musician-stub