| Birth date | August 20, 1944 (age 82) |
|---|---|
| Birth place | Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Audio recording / mixing / mastering engineer, producer and musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Website | www.gandjaudio.com |
Gene William Paul (born August 20, 1944) is an American audio recording / mixing / mastering engineer, producer and musician. He was an engineer at Atlantic Recording Studios during their famed 1960s–80s period and is currently the chief mastering engineer at G&J Audio, a mixing and mastering studio for major and independent labels focused on reissues and new recordings. He has worked on thousands of projects, and has engineered 9 Grammy Award-winning albums with 29 total nominations in 15 different categories. He has engineered many hit recordings, including 7 #1's on the Billboard National Charts, 6 #1's on the Pop Charts, 10 #1's on the Jazz Charts and 5 #1's on the R&B Charts.
Early years
Gene Paul is the son of the guitarist and inventor Les Paul, the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar and early innovator of multitrack recording.[1] Gene spent his youth developing his engineering skills in the family recording studio[1] and spent a decade as the drummer in his father's touring band from 1959 to 1969, with singer Mary Ford (his stepmother) for the first half.[2] "Without even knowing it, I was being taught about presenting music, which was a great experience. I worked on putting the shows together with dad. I watched him record his own music as well as groups. If he said, 'Do you want to know about this?' I'd say, 'Yes.' And I'd go set up a mic. By the time I grew up, I knew how to record."[1]
Atlantic Records
His career took off after joining Atlantic Records in 1969 where he quickly became a world-renowned engineer and producer. "The people there, like Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, Joel Dorn, Ahmet Ertegun, they were all gentle people. You would think that they were all superstars, but they never acted that way. Being at Atlantic was like being welcomed into someone's house. It was a house of music. You never knew who was going to come in, one day Aretha [Franklin], the next The Modern Jazz Quartet, King Curtis, Gladys Knight. ... It was truthfully hard to go home at night."[3]
Mastering
In the 1980s, Paul began working with Atlantic Records producer Joel Dorn and Atlantic Records engineer Joel Kerr to restore and remaster the recordings of rare live performances by famous artists.[1] This led Paul & Kerr to form DB Plus Digital Services, an independent mastering studio which operated in New York City from 1987 to 2009.[3] In 2010, he became Chief Mastering Engineer at G&J Audio, a mixing and mastering studio for major and independent labels focused on reissues and new recordings, alongside Kerr and engineer Jamie Polaski.[3]
Grammy Awards
Gene Paul has engineered 9 Grammy Award-winning albums with 29 total nominations in 15 different categories. (Years listed are album release dates.)
Recordings
In addition to the Grammy Awards listed above, Gene Paul has engineered many hit recordings, including 7 #1's on the Billboard National Charts, 6 #1's on the Pop Charts, 10 #1's on the Jazz Charts and 5 #1's on the R&B Charts.
References
- ^ Williamson, Don, "Gene Paul... A Stickler for Imperfection” Archived December 29, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, '’Jazz Review'’, January 29, 2006. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ Kruth,John, "Shut Up & Learn – The Auspicious Apprenticeship of Gene Paul” Archived February 21, 2013 at the Wayback Machine, '’Wax Poetics'’, March/April 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ Littwin, Danny (September 2010). "It's about the music, not the technology" (in Portuguese). Producao Audio. pp. 26–36. Retrieved 2012-08-05.[dead link]
- ^ "Gene Paul". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ "Past Winners Search”, '’Grammy.com'’. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Staff". G&J Audio. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin – Aretha’s Greatest Hits”, Discogs. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "AWB History” Archived October 24, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Average White Band.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ Porter, Lewis, [1], '’John Coltrane: His Life and Music’’, University of Michigan Press, January 27, 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ Carlozo, Lou, "Chicago Artists are Well-represented In Grammy Nominations”, Chicago Tribune, January 7, 1998. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ "Full Biography” Archived September 1, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Dave Liebman.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Arkadia Jazz All-Stars: Thank You John”, VIEW Video & Arkadia Label Group. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ "About Ted Rosenthal”, All About Jazz. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Benny Golson” Archived June 9, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Jazz at Lincoln Center. 2012-08-25.
- ^ "JoAnne Brackeen, Professor” Archived April 24, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Berklee College of Music. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Faculty Experts”, The New School. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Tribute to Mesterhazy featured in second week of Cape May Music Festival” Archived August 23, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, '’Shore News Today'’, September 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Kurt Elling”, All About Jazz. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Album Details” Archived October 13, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Maria Schneider.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ Gerstein, Ted & Berman, John, "Rick Moranis on His Transformation Into a Grammy-Nominated Country Western Singer”, ABC's '’Nightline'’, February 5, 2006. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards Roundup: Jazz Field” Archived March 14, 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Grammy.org. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "Album Details: Sky Blue” Archived December 22, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Maria Schneider.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
- ^ "2010 Grammy Award Nominations Announced” Archived August 17, 2014 at the Wayback Machine, '’Mix'’, December 3, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-024.
- ^ “Exploring the GRAMMYs’ Jazz Field Nominees” Grammy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ “Exploring the Children’s Field Nominees” Grammy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- ^ "Black and Blue", Wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
External links
- G&J Audio
- Gene Paul on AllMusic
- Gene Paul on Artistdirect
- Gene Paul[dead link] on Album Credits
- Gene Paul interview by Don Williamson in Jazz Review, Jan. 2006
- Gene Paul interview[dead link] by John Kruth in Wax Poetics, Mar./Apr. 2010
- Gene Paul interview[dead link] by Danny Littwin in Producao Audio, Sept. 2010