THETEAM

The musical pairing of songwriters / musicians Joyce Cooling and Jay Wagner has created an immediately accessible blend of guitar, keyboards, vocals and percussion into a warm, shimmering, luminous medley, bringing a fresh new spin to contemporary jazz!


The essence of Joyce Cooling's musical vision thrives in the collaboration she enjoys with her longtime musical partner, keyboardist and producer Jay Wagner. Their alliance - fueled by a common love for songwriting and their musical commitment to excellence in musicianship - has moved both artists to the forefront of contemporary jazz, with an original sound steeped in tradition and edging towards the future in the same groove.

Together, Cooling and Wagner continue to craft an exhilarating repertoire of original tunes, a strikingly innovative sound that draws from the best of all possible worlds with elements of jazz, funk and pop blended with the flavor of world music.

Wagner, a San Francisco native, shares Cooling's strong attraction to melody. Both were raised on the sounds of Top 40 pop and straight-ahead jazz radio, and both claim a lifelong affection for a great song with universal appeal, whether it's a Burt Bacharach classic, an Ivan Lins melody, or a tune from the prolific pen of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen.

It's a dynamic, beguiling meeting of minds and music that has sent the contemporary jazz world spinning on its ear.

--Wayne Saroyan, Jazz Critic

Interview with Joyce Cooling and Jay Wagner...

Q: How do you two write together? What's the process?

Joyce: "Songwriting is our passion and it happens in a variety of ways. Sometimes Jay will start a song and talk it over with me, maybe he'll get through a part of it, and he'll say, 'Finish it. It needs a bridge.' Maybe I'll start the tune and turn it over to Jay. Sometimes it's the two of us side by side, like a tennis match, back and forth. Writing with Jay is like having an extension of my own mind, with his distictive twist on it."

Wagner agrees that something special is happening between them,

Jay: "We have this thing musically that whatever I like, I know Joyce will like and vice versa. She'll hear something that catches her attention and she'll look at me, and we're definitely thinking the same thing. The first time we wrote a song together, we came to a rehearsal, and I sat down and played a few notes. Then she came over and added a phrase, and within the hour we had finished writing a song. We still do it that way today. It works."

Q: Tell me about the inner workings of the group. Do you two divide up the responsibilities or do you share each job equally? Does one of you do more or less of a particular thing?

Joyce: We both obviously do the songwriting as a shared kind of thing, but then some of the other jobs do get delegated. For example, Jay is more technically minded than I am, so he ends up with far more of the studio responsibilities than I do. He's a brilliant orchestrator both live and in the studio, and has produced all of our CDs. Jay is the one that is there from the very beginning to the very end - mixing and re-mixing, overseeing the mastering, etc., etc.

When it comes to rehearsing and writing the live arrangements for the band, we both share the job equally. I enjoy working out ideas about how the music should flow - constructing sections of tunes, writings intros and endings - that sort of thing.

Q: Where do you two envision taking your composing? What sorts of songs do you see yourselves writing in ten or fifteen years from now?

Jay: We've always wanted the opportunity to write for film and TV and to be able to write songs for other artists. Years ago, we just sat down and wrote whatever we felt like writing - not necessarily music that we ourselves would play. It was an interesting process because we ended up with everything from rock and pop vocal songs, to lush soundtrack types of themes, to country tunes, to melodic ballads. We both realized that songwriting was a deep love of ours and that we wanted to make composing, for ourselves and for others, a significant part of our lives."

"The Team" Buzzz:

Here's what they're saying about 'em...

"...(Cooling and Wagner) lyrical performers and songwriters who've been one of the city's best kept secrets..."

-Jeff Kaliss, San Francisco Examiner

"Wagner has a presence at the keyboard that perfectly complements Cooling's guitar, point / counterpoint, as if they are inside each other's heads. Their partnership is wonderful to watch, the ease with which they exchange the lead like fireflies in the dark...In the end we are a single body of appreciation, standing and giving thanks to a great jazz combo."

-(Southwest Airlines) Spirit Magazine

"...Her style is flawless and Jay Wagner on keyboards is superb. There's so much good music on this project that without a doubt this is my hot pick of the month..."

-Jaques A. Williams, Strictly Jazz

"(Their) music was challenging yet quite accessible, rhythmic yet never predictable. At one point, Jay Wagner whistled in unison with the high notes of his piano, and when Joyce joined him by singing along with her guitar, the combination of voices and instruments sounded unique...an impressive and highly individual jazz group."

-Scott Yanow, Music Connection

"Musicianship: First-rate all the way."

-Jonathan Widran, Music Connection

"...With her writing partner and keyboardist, Jay Wagner, Cooling has created exciting new music, using many rhythmical bases."

-Rick Grant, First Coast Entertainer - Jacksonville, FL

"Cooling, Wagner and company have captured, conquered and converted - always a step ahead of their listeners, surprising and enchanting. This is contemporary jazz, the real thing, and the audience digs it in the quiet corners of their minds."

-Lawrence Wells, Spirit Magazine

"From a man who's travelled the world singing, teaching, and listening, Jay Wagner's brilliant piano playing and songwriting have opened new doors for me."

-Grammy Nominee Mark Murphy

"The Cooling-Wagner sounds are Latin-lively, body moving stuff , with lots of mutual enthusiasm, audience to band..."