Jay Olaszek
Bass and vocals
Jay’s been all over the place. He’s played blues, glam-rock, jazz, bluegrass, funk, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, sports events, and at the local bowling alley. He’s sung the National Anthem at White Sox games, at Kane County Cougars Games, and at St. Francis Spartans games. He’s played standing on the sidewalk and in front of thousands of people. It’s been a long, fun ride that he hopes is nowhere near halfway over. Jay currently works with a number of projects and people. You can often see him working with the inexorable Carolyn Brady-Riley at Circle Theater (www.circle-theatre.org) and at various theater venues and productions throughout the city.
He’s also known to jump in quite often, bass in hand, at churches here and there. He is currently in the studio with his beloved indie project, Small Shiny Things, other links from there). On occasion he has the pleasure to play with the Grasslands Quintette (www.grasslandsmusic.com), and in particular enjoys gigging with “Brother John” Kattke and his smokin’ band (www.brojohn.com) As far as influences, Jay does his best to invoke the feel of Donald “Duck” Dunn as much as possible. He also enjoys the stylings of Johnny B Gayden and Nathan East. Jay plays a beat-up Fender Jazz V and is partial to SWR heads and Yorkville bottoms.
