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“…Hoggard’s reach is extensive, full of down-home groove and essential jam, balladry as evocative as the paths he forges to get there.” Scott Yanow, LA Jazz Scene

Jay Hoggard has recorded 23 albums as a leader and has participated in more than 50 as a collaborator. His most recent recording is HARLEM HIEROGLYPHS. Noted jazz writer Owen McNally recently declared in his Jazz Corridor column for WNPR.org: “ Hoggard has created a triumphant jazz album, a dramatic showcase for his diverse composing skills… While the standards get royal treatment, Hoggard’s originals are the album’s crown jewels. Among these are the celebratory rent party special, “Harlem Jazzbirds Swingin’ and Swayin’”; “Sonic Hieroglyphs,” an ode to jazz’s sophisticated sonic semiotics, signs and symbols expressing the sweet and bittersweet mysteries of life, and Disposable Consumption, landscaped with brilliant corners and a mysterious motif of sharp consciousness morphing in and out of an edgy, subconscious dream state… “

Jay’s other recordings on the JHVM label, THE RIGHT PLACE, SONGS OF SPIRITUAL LOVE, SWING ‘EM GATES, SOULAR POWER, CHRISTMAS VIBES ALL THRU THE YEAR, and SOLO FROM TWO SIDES, give listeners an opportunity to experience the many sides of this significant and vital musician.

Jay Hoggard has been commissioned as a composer in various contexts. His most recent collaboration was STORIED PLACES, premiered at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts in April 2016. This powerful collaboration featured dance and spoken word by choreographer Nicole Stanton and writer Lois Brown. In 2009, Jay was commissioned by dance troupe Sankofa Kuumba and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra to write THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OCEAN and LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR, which later were incorporated into the multimedia performance JOURNEY OF EMANCIPATION in 2012.

Previously, Jay collaborated with choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson by composing THE WISDOM OF THE BAOBAB TREE commissioned by Lincoln Center Out of Doors. He was commissioned by the Hartford Festival of Jazz to compose LA TIERRA HERMOSA, dedicated to Tito Puente. He was commissioned by Wesleyan University to compose JOYFUL SWAMP and CROSSING POINT for Max Roach and percussion ensemble, and VIBARIMBALA for symphonic and jazz orchestras. As a performer, Jay has toured the globe to rave reviews, performing throughout the United States, Africa, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Asia. He led a quintet on an extensive tour sponsored by the US government to North Africa, the Middle East and India. He has performed nationally and internationally on television radio, and in premier performance venues with Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Tito Puente, Kenny Burrell, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, James Newton, Oliver Lake, Bennie Maupin, Sam Rivers, Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Hilton Ruiz. Jay Hoggard is a tenured Full Professor of Music at his alma mater Wesleyan University, where he has been the director of the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra and has taught and mentored hundreds of students for the past 26 years.