Episode 86

This week’s special guest is the incredibly talented vocalist Ellen Foley! Ellen is a singer and actress who has appeared on both Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom Night Court for one season. She has released five solo albums, & is also known for her collaborations with the rock singer Meat Loaf. Jay Jay & Ellen discuss their backgrounds, & all things New York & Rock n Roll. Ellen has known her whole life that rock n roll singing is her lane – tune in to hear her story & how she built an amazing career in music off of this certainty. Don’t miss this conversation, only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music!

Episode 87

This week we’re revisiting an important episode from last year – as the focus is on Jay Jay’s remarkable health journey & surviving prostate cancer, with special guest Dr. Samir Taneja. Dr. Samir Taneja is a urologist & surgeon who performed Jay Jay’s prostate cancer operation in 2018. Jay Jay discusses why he finds it so important to educate yourself on any health concerns that are affecting your life, & shares his experience in doing so himself.
Dr. Taneja shares his insight on prostate cancer diagnosis & methodology, and discusses the decisions that individuals who are diagnosed with prostate cancer have to weigh, differences between various treatments currently available, & why he finds active surveillance to be so important.

Episode 88

Jay Jay’s friend & special guest Peter Blauner joins the conversation this week, on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music! Peter is a renowned author, journalist & television producer. Peter wanted to be a New York writer since ‘ as early as he could read.’ Hear Jay & Peter discuss how New York has shaped their lives & careers – & get deep into what the writing process looks like behind the scenes in the literary, film & music worlds. Peter’s most recent novel “Picture in the Sand” was published this year – on the book, Stephen King was quoted saying “On rare occasions I read a book that reminds me of why I fell in love with storytelling in the first place. This is such a book.” Peter discusses his amazing journey with this novel, how it took nearly 20 years to develop and write, & the nuances behind writing a historically based novel. Don’t miss this conversation, only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music!

Episode 89

This week Jay Jay welcomes his friend Ken Kessler back on the podcast! Ken is a Hi-Fi expert journalist, who joined Hi-Fi News & Record Review in 1983, to which he still contributes. He is also the author of “Quad: The Closest Approach”, “McIntosh … For The Love Of Music”, and co-author of “Sound Bites” and “KEF: Innovators In Sound.” In this conversation, Jay Jay & Ken do a deep dive into the current state of Hi-Fi. Both share their journeys of how they ended up getting into Hi-Fi audio, & how their relationship to Hi-Fi has changed over the years. Ken & Jay Jay both have 40+ years of personal experience in this field. If you’re looking for audio advice, or are just curious about the world of high fidelity audio – these are the guys to listen to! Don’t miss the first part of their conversation, and stay tuned for parts 2 & 3 to be released in upcoming weeks. Only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music!

Episode 90

This week on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music, Jay Jay welcomes very special guest & legendary artist William King! William is a singer, musician & choreographer who is a founding member of The Commodores. These two initially met through their shared experience of having dealt with prostate cancer which they have discussed previously – now, in this conversation, Jay wants to focus on William’s remarkable musical background & journey.
Jay Jay refers to The Commodores as being ‘one of the few bands that have been around longer than Twisted.’ William dives into their origin story & how it all began – from playing dive bars in Tuskegee Alabama, to meeting Lionel Richie and Thomas McClary playing pool when they were students in college. Jay & William have a surprising amount of parallels along their journeys, despite their backgrounds being in different parts of the country. Hear them share insights on making it in the music industry, & tell stories of their amazing musical legacies that are still ongoing – only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music!