Jay Anderson is a paradox: a Jazz musician who doesn’t call himself a Jazz musician and the executive director of Milwaukee’s first culture label; Voodoohoney. At just 25 years old, Anderson is becoming known as Milwaukee’s 21st Century Renaissance Man. An accomplished chef, Jay is also an organic farmer who has raised everything from bees and livestock to commercial food crops. He recently retired from farming chiles for Man’s Best Friend Sauce(Mbf Sauces), a local hot sauce company.
But Anderson delivers the real spice and heat to Milwaukee through his passion for music. Just as new artists such as Kamasi Washington are bringing Jazz to a new generation of fans throughout the country and the world, Anderson is doing that on a local level in Milwaukee. He has become one of the city’s most prolific and hardest working musicians and leads Eight Milwaukee bands including: Foreign Goods, Nwa Na Agbe, and The Diaspora Arkestra while being a Important Contributor and member of New Age Narcissism – NAN And also held a year-long residency at the The Jazz Estate.
Although his passion for Jazz in undeniable, Anderson doesn’t claim to be a strictly Jazz musician, preferring to be called a “Black American Artist.” He incorporates Jazz into other genres, including Hip Hop and Rock, making his work as both a performer and producer a hot commodity in the Milwaukee music scene. He has collaborated and recorded with a variety of local artists, from electronic producer Strehlow of Noh Life to the Post Punk group The Fatty Acids and the intense hip hop of Lorde Fredd33. And he’s shared the stage with national acts including The Roots, Flaming Lips, and Lupe Fiasco.
His 10-piece group Foreign Goods - which blends Jazz, Hip Hop, Soul and Afro-Beat - is just over a year old but has already headlined some of the city’s most respected music festivals. Foreign Goods recently released their Live EP, “Coronation” on Gloss Records (GGOOLLDD, Platinum Boys) and is currently working on its debut album. While he's juggling a dozen other studio projects, Anderson’s Stomata - an Experimental Jazz Trio – has released its reshman album Tilted Standards/Non Standards
When Anderson’s not on stage, he works tirelessly to improve Milwaukee’s music scene and build a solid connection between milwaukee and his second home of New Orleans Louisiana. He’s the Curator of Voodoohoney Presents which creates special musical events throughout the coarse of the yearat special events. A recent tribute to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tupac Shakur and Andre 3000 raised $1000 for TruSkools, an urban art after-school program. Anderson also co-founded and co-curated the three-day Strange Fruit Music Festival, which addressed the racial unrest in Milwaukee.
In the past year alone, Anderson has been featured in Milwaukee Magazine(https://www.milwaukeemag.com/…/hitting-high-notes-jay-ande…/), Milwaukee Record (http://milwaukeerecord.com/…/on-the-record-episode-74-milw…/) , the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel(http://www.jsonline.com/…/sound-check-foreign-goo…/90319800/) (http://www.jsonline.com/…/milwaukee-musicians-res…/89731160/)
, and other publications(http://urbanmilwaukee.com/…/profile-the-musical-journey-of…/).
- Tarik Moody