Jay Rodriguez was born Hernan Ramiro Rodriguez-Sierra in Colombia, South America on September 17th. He grew up in NYC and there he has studied life through music and music through life.
He has worked,produced and/or recorded with artists such as ,Miles Cyrus, Prince, the Gil Evans band, the Mingus Big band, Roy Hargrove, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Craig Harris, Ray Barretto, Latin pop Icon's Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, to Bobby Sanabria,Roy Nathanson, Elvis Costello,
Debbie Harry, Widespread Panic, the great Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes, JB Horn Fred Wesley, Bernie Worrell of Parliment Funkedelic,George Porter Jr., The great Cuban all star jazz band Irakere, and Rap Artists like Guru ,Dj Premiere, and amongst many others.

Jay Rodriguez has been nominated twice for a Grammy under the best jazz solo category 2000, 2003, his woodwind and solo work were featured on the 2006 Grammy winning best Dance Single; Little Louie Vega's remix of Curtis Mayfield's (Superfly) and was nominated in 2007 for best Contemporary Jazz Album of the year for work with a band he co-founded in 92 ( the Groove Collective.)
Currently has worked with Teruo Nakamura ,Craig Harris,Cindy Blackman,DJ Logic, Victor Jones ,Jason Miles and ......Arturo O'Farrill

Some of Jay Rodriguez's achievements were recently recorded in Leonard Feather-Ira Gitler's The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz.

'He could be breathy and insinuating on a ballad, brawny and extroverted in an uptempo."
- Jon Pareles, The New York Times

"Mr. Rodriguez moves between idioms and energies as easily as he switches instruments.'"
Giovanni Russonello -The New York Times

"Mr. Rodriguez is more than a musician. He is a visionary. Jay Rodriguez is a true light to hear and see."
- Arnie Lawrence (artist, saxophonist and founder of the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.) -