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NEWS
11 06 2010 - Summer(ish)
Great summer so far!...Mixed 3 tracks for Mackenzie Rhythm Section....these cats groove like no one else! Real nice dudes, too...a pleasure to work with. Claude Munson and Amelia Leclair popped by the studio along with Phil Lafreniere to mix some ultra sweet tracks. Unique voices and vibes...real happy to be working with these uber-talented artists. Tracking continues for Wicked Grin's upcoming release...vocals...a bit of guitar...it's sounding real good! Mixed a slammin' Professor Wouassa track. A great band and a great groove...really diggin' it! Looking forward to mixing the rest of their record in the forthcoming weeks...giving the Space Echo a well deserved workout...
22 04 2010 - Spring!!
Sorry for the radio silence, everyone! It's been a busy few months! Finished up Trevor Alguire's new record Now Before Us. A great experience from start to finish. Worked with some familiar players and met some new ones in the process...great vibe all around. Thanks, Trevor! Jed Rached's new live Elmdale Tavern recording is nearing completion..2 nights of great material to work with...great energy. JW Jones' Midnight Memphis Sun is set for a May release. Undoubtedly his best record yet..confident and groovy...fun record to work on. New Tom Gajdicar tunes in the works...Gershwin meets Fred Astaire meets Tom's catch-filled hooks and lyrics...very laid back sessions..just how I like 'em! Nothing Sacred is in full mix mode...huge songs recorded and produced by the band. I'm happy to be involved in the mixing stage. Justin Coutu continues work on Calm Before the Storm...a single track arranged in classic Coutu epic fashion...looking forward to working with some great players!
14 02 2010 - Feburary
Krazy month so far...deep into mixing Trevor Alguire's forthcoming record...sad to see it come to an end. Great material
with a cast of great players. Looking forward to a late April release probably at the NAC 4th stage..great venue for Trevor's
songs. Recorded piano, hammond, drums, guitar and bass for the upcoming Mar-Kays release. Serious funk/soul with a deep groove.
Phil Motion and the Easy Lo-Fi keep chipping away at their forthcoming record...awesome playing and songwriting...a pleasure to work
on. Run to your favourite fine music store and grab yourself a copy of The SoulJazz Orchestra's latest LP Rising Sun.
Already garnering great reviews and appearing on some heavyweight top ten lists. Great record.
03 01 2010 - January
Happy New Year to all! New CD's ready to go.... If you're a fan of deep groove blues make sure to check out the new Shrimp Daddy
release Messin' With My System. 10 slammin' tracks with none other than MonkeyJunk's Steve Marriner at the production helm.
Shrimp's vocals and harp playing are top notch...a fun project from start to finish. Marleen Fawcett releases her sophomore
disc Thank God it's Christmas. A fantastic collection of Inspirational Gospel songs and jazzed up Christmas tunes. A must have for the season.
Produced by Al Bragg, TGIC was a blast to work on from top to bottom! Other Metro news includes forthcoming records from JW Jones,
Trevor Alguire, Philippe Lafreniere, The Mar-Kays, Jed Rached, and more! Looking forward to 2010!
31 10 2009 - October / November
New CD's in stores! Be sure to check out Nilla's From the Ground Up..10 tasty
funked up tracks with Nilla herself dropping some serious beats and rhymes. Huge. Hot on the heel of their killer set at the NAC 4th stage, Concession 23
releases their second CD Wandering Steps. I had such an awesome time with these Bluegrassers...and I'm real happy with how the record turned out.
These guys are the real deal...hurtin' lyrics with jumpin' music...grooves from top to bottom. JW Jones is in full mix / tracking mode...working with
Sun Studios recorded tracks featuring the great Hubert Sumlin, and looking forward to laying down more tracks with his homegrown band next week.
Shrimp Daddy's record almost complete..a couple more mixes to go and it's off to the presses! Real pround of the stuff so far! Deep into mixing Marleen Fawcett's upcoming
release...gospel / christmas vibe..another fine Al Bragg production...lovin' the PSP Old Timer plugin!
09 09 2009 - September Already??
Lots of stuff going on these days! Congrats to Junkie and the Spider on their Live 88.5 Big Money Shot placement!
Awesome heavy tracks! Laid down some bed tracks for Shrimp Daddy's upcoming release...another fine Beefy Production with Steve Marriner
at the helm. Huge grooves! Mixing some new Philippe Lafreniere tracks..real 70's vibe...totally funky..everything performed by the man himself.
Thick, thick tracks. Tweaking Concession 23 tracks...the mixes are all done and now we're at the fine tuning stage. Real proud of
this stuff..drag to see it come to an end!! The mighty Trevor Alguire continues tracking his new album...with Gilles Leclerc and Jonathan Ferrabee
laying down some groovin' bluegrass flavoured cuts...very cool.
26 07 2009 - July News
Put down some vocals and heavy, heavy guitar for Junkie and the Spider's forthcoming record...massive sounds from Francis' Mesa/Boogie..I'm lovin' it. Put some bass down for Trevor Alguire's new album...and Concession 23's very own Jonathan Ferrabee
dropped by to track some ultra groovy upright bass tracks. Worked on some new JW Jones material...his new house has some awesome acoustics (just like his old house!) so we decided to do some remote tracking...very cool. Also...everyone will be pleased to know that I finally broke down
and bought a real live trash can for the bathroom! Nothing but the finest here at Metropolitan...
09 06 2009 - May / June News
Tracking continues on Concession 23's new record...vocals, harmonies, these cats can sing! Finished Mixing and Mastering NiLLa's forthcoming record...
huge beats and grooves...make sure to check out her MySpace page to catch some of the pre release tracks. Mixed a new song for People Project's upcoming release Natural...
awesome version of Manu Chao's Mr Bobby...deep grooves. Did some rough mixes for new JW Jones material..red hot blues...JW's stuff keeps on getting better and better.
Experimenting with guitar tones for Junkie and the Spider's new record...tracking begins soon...can't wait to sink my teeth into those tracks. Started laying down some scratch tracks for Trevor Alguire's new record...great songs, great dude, great vibe...
really looking forward to working with some great players on this one. Put down some bed tracks for KC Carter and Sherwood Lumsden..great songwriters and great dudes. Lovingly produced by none other than Al Bragg.
22 04 2009 - April News
Congrats to MonkeyJunk for garnering a 4 Star review of Tiger in Your Tank in the Ottawa Citizen. Also...SoulJazz Orchestra
earns a 4 Star review of Manifesto in Montreal's Hour magazine. Great work all around, dudes!
29 03 2009 - Nice!
Congrats to Al Wood and the Woodsmen on their Northern Ontario Music and Film Award nomination! Looking forward to the Award show Gala on April 25th!
08 03 2009 - March News
Tons of news this month....Congrats to Al Wood and the Woodsmen for their Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards
nominations: Best Album for Mood Swingin' Blues and Best Vocal Performance for Late Night Stroll. Congrats Al! Received my new Cuttlefish disc in the mail the other day
all the way from South Korea. Check out the credits page for more info. Finished laying down MonkeyJunk tracks...captured some huge sounds by Tony, Steve, and Matt. Now we're heading into the mix!
Tracked another Concession 23 song...killer groove...these cats can play like nobody's business. Mixed and Mastered Jason Roos' A Country Way of Life...cool dude, cool production, cool players..couldn't ask for more!
Finished the new People Project album Natural. Now it's off to Los Angeles for mastering...I'm gonna miss these guys around the studio...
27 01 2009 - Jan / Feb 2009
People Project into full mix mode...with some additional tracks coming in from Mexico.
I'll miss working with these guys...so much talent and tons of fun. Tons of Plettenberggeist liqueur too, but that's another
story. Started tracking and mixing MonkeyJunk material. Hot grooves, hot tunes, hot tubes...a perfect combination. Finished
3 songs for NiLLa...ultra groovy hiphop...check it out here. Started a new Concession 23
track...crazy talented bunch. Slammin' bluegrass...flawless vocal harmonies...real happy to part of this project! Started mixing
Jason Roos' new record...another tight Al Bragg production...great vibe...
21 12 2008 - December News
Ultra busy couple of months...started some new Julie Larocque tracks...I love this stuff..she's
got an armload of awesome material waiting to be recorded..I couldn't be happier! Completed Souljazz Orchestra's remix of Watch We
starring Massive Attack singer Horace Andy. The track grooves real hard. Started the new People Project record...these
dudes are salt of the earth and the songwriting is top drawer...real happy to be involved!
01 11 2008 - October / November!
Lotsa stuff going on at the Metro this month...NiLLa came in for a visit..recorded 3 tracks with TO producer and all around
gentleman Josh Hicks...ultra groovy. Getting ready to mix some Al Bragg produced material...KC Carter and Jason Roos. Working on a Horace Andy track with the The SoulJazz Orchestra.
New nominations for the Maple Blues Awards and the Xpress Best Of Ottawa Readers Poll: JW Jones, Daddy Long Legs, Lynne Hanson, Steve Marriner, MonkeyJunk, and The SoulJazz Orchestra
all recognised for an excellent year of work!!
05 10 2008 - Video Shoot
Had the pleaseure of participating in my first ever video shoot! Directed by Tim Alp...tons of fun
and the crew made us feel (and look) like superstars. Interesting process...HD cameras...jibs...smoke machines...very cool...
05 09 2008 - Fall Releases
Holy Smokes! Lynne Hanson rocked the NAC 4th Stage with her official release of Eleven Months. Great show with great players in a great venue!
Who can ask for more?? Well...Al Wood just released Mood Swingin' Blues at Irenes Pub....was happy to have played a song on stage with the
fellas. Al nailed the show...and his band was awesome. Both Lynne and Al are getting tons of press and airplay...deservedly so!
26 06 2008 - June News
Yipes..what a month..as far as I know June is when summer starts, right? I'm still waitin' for the sunshine and hot weather, dammit!!
Busy month, though...started a new World Voices Choir CD...real cool stuff including an arrangement of U2's MLK..one
of my favourite songs. Mixed some Monkeyjunk tracks starring Tony D, Matt Sobb, and Steve Marriner...holy smokes those dudes got
some serious groove! Trumped! stopped by for a 4 song EP..Trumpet, guitar, and voice..loved the tracks..awesome dudes. People Project's
Rommel Ribeiro recorded six songs for an upcoming release..Brazillian music...that dude's guitar playing and voice are the best! Started some new
SoulJazz Orchestra tracks...lookout!!
22 05 2008 - May News
New reviews keep coming in for JW Jones' Bluelisted. 4.5 / 5 star review in All Music Guide.
Nice going dude! Also received my copy of Peter Brown's The House on Franklin Street..check out the credits page for more info.
He's got a couple of CD release shows booked...May 25th at Ballygiblins's Restaurant (151 Bridge Street, Carleton Place) and May 31st at Cafe Paradiso (199 Bank Street).
Looking forward to it!
26 04 2008 - SSL 4000 Collection
 Received my new Solid State Logic bundle...feels great to start mixing through these channel strips...they've
got "that sound" you know?..the sound of ..victory. No, wait..that's the smell of victory. Well, either way, they sound awesome.
South Korea's Cuttlefish was the first to use 'em and despite the 13 hour time difference, they seem cool with the sound!
25 04 2008 - Lotsa stuff a-happenin'!
Lynne Hanson's Eleven Months is mixed and mastered! Al Wood's Mood Swingin' Blues is mixed and mastered!
Great fun to work on these records...serious talent all around... These cats can write a song, lemme tells ya!
17 03 2008 - JW Jones CD Release
Checked out JW Jones' CD release show at the Rainbow on Saturday night..the dude
knocked it out of the park! Lot's of press for the event, too...The Sun, The Citizen, and the cover of the XPress!
19 02 2008 - February News
Finished mixing and mastering Peter Brown's upcoming CD...looking forward to a March release. Had the pleasure of
working with the one and only Lynn Miles...put down some harmony tracks on Lynne Hanson's latest. Lynn Miles' voice
is second to none...she's got the chops! Mixed 3 Henderson Howells tracks over at Al Bragg's studio...itchin'
to record some more bed tracks! Put down some pre-production tracks with Steve Marriner...he's got some killer songs in the works!
Looking forward to mixing a few more Brad Basnett tracks shortly...always a treat! Recorded some new drum tracks with Miche Pouliot...one song, one take.
That dude can play!
28 01 2008 - January News
Busy January!!...Started recording a new Tony D track...great song, great guitar playing...
Tony's the dude. Al Wood sessions are in mix mode...4 in the can, 9 to go..sad to see this project coming to an end.
Put down some vocals and percussion for SoulJazz Orchestra's upcoming release Manifesto..serious funk. Lynne Hanson's project has moved to the vocal recording stage..can't wait to hear the songs come
together. Mixed a Jimmy Knox track..recorded by Marty Sobb over at Raven Street..great throwback track. Started recording the guitar tracks for
Denis Larcher's upcoming EP..not only can that dude play a mean piano, he plays great guitar too! Also..found out that
Bridgehead sells croissants made by the French Baker over on Murray Street. There goes the waistline!
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FEEDBACK
"Jason Jaknunas patiently walks that fine line on the confluence of art and science.
His poised patience, professionalism and technological know always result in the perfect take.
Passionate about what he does, and always ready to discuss
every alternative JJ has become "the guy" to get a project from seedling to tree!"
- Al Wood,
Al Wood and The Woodsmen
“It's all true...
I had a wonderful time working with Jason Jaknunas on two full-length studio
albums. He has sharp attention for detail, great musical intuition, an
understanding of a broad range of instruments and recording approaches, and
strikes a refreshing balance between professionalism and personability,
making for clear communication and a fun recording atmosphere. All these
qualities instilled confidence going into the projects, as well as
satisfaction with the end results, even listening to them years later."
- Trevor Tchir
"Jason Jaknunas has a natural gift for making musicians feel at ease
during sessions, and commands the best personal performance in a fun
and creative atmosphere. As a producer he understands what needs to be
accomplished, gives honest feedback, and goes the extra distance to give
each project the best representation of the artist’s vision. Every musician who has
worked with JJ can’t wait to get back to Metropolitan Studios to record again!"
- Julie Larocque
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