Jay Collins and the Kings County Band at The Falcon

"Jazz is a huge part of what I learned about music, but it's just a small piece of what I do.”

The sax player of choice for famous artists like Gregg Allman, Levon Helm, and Donald Fagen, Jay Collins played on 2 Grammy-winning recordings with Mr. Helm (Electric Dirt and Ramble at the Ryman) and a platinum-selling DVD with the Allman Brothers Band (Live at the Beacon Theater). Jay has also been “moon-lighting” as a singer-songwriter for years, however, the secret is slowly leaking out: His earthy and unpretentious songs are being admired and recorded by young musicians in the Hudson Valley, New York City, and beyond. And on vocals, his granite pipes prompted Time Out NY to note that, “His soulful ‘croak’ definitely deserves to be heard!”...

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"Jazz is a huge part of what I learned about music, but it's just a small piece of what I do.”

The sax player of choice for famous artists like Gregg Allman, Levon Helm, and Donald Fagen, Jay Collins played on 2 Grammy-winning recordings with Mr. Helm (Electric Dirt and Ramble at the Ryman) and a platinum-selling DVD with the Allman Brothers Band (Live at the Beacon Theater). Jay has also been “moon-lighting” as a singer-songwriter for years, however, the secret is slowly leaking out: His earthy and unpretentious songs are being admired and recorded by young musicians in the Hudson Valley, New York City, and beyond. And on vocals, his granite pipes prompted Time Out NY to note that, “His soulful ‘croak’ definitely deserves to be heard!”

Fronting his “Kings County Band” on gigs throughout the region, as well as continuing to perform and arrange with the horn section at Levon Helm’s Ramble in Woodstock NY, Jay also plays in The Dukes of September, a musical collective featuring Fagen, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald, and is the musical director for the Gregg Allman Band. “He has a killer tone…”-Gregg Allman.

Collins is also proud of his past work with other musicians like Ray LaMontagne, James Hunter, Bobby Sanabria, Jacky Terrasson, and Andrew Hill, and his ongoing local gigs with up-and-comer Chris Bergson.

In an era where most learn to play music in a school, Mr. Collins is one of those increasingly rare musicians who mostly learned to play, “on the bandstand”. Jay and the Kings County Band mix up some Soul, New Orleans rhythms, and some Blues into a funky stew that surprises and satisfies.

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