Interesting Project for Jay Perez

Hector Saldaña of the San Antonio Express-News gives us a look into some upcoming projects for recent Latin Grammy nominee Jay Perez.

Thanks to a newly inked deal with Freddie Records in Corpus Christi, a career-spanning new album (“Back in the Day”) and anthology project are in the works as follow-ups to the Latin Grammy-nominated “New Horizons,” Perez’s first on the label.

“Back in the Day” is due in November.

With [producer Gilbert] Velasquez’s help, Perez not only re-recorded essential hits — from his early solo career, with Latin Breed and David Lee Garza y Los Musicales — but meticulously re-created them.

“The concept was to do something old school and fresh,” said Perez. “I wanted something for the fans, especially younger one that aren’t familiar with those groups.”

Since he didn’t own the original master tapes, he had no other choice for such a collection.

I must say that I’m excited. I’ve been a fan of Perez ever since a friend of mine loaned me a cassette of Latin Breed’s “Breakin’ the Rules” back in the late 80s. Soon after, Perez appeared on a Tejano Music Awards program fronting the legendary band and belting out some classics–and quite well, I might add.

Two albums with David Lee Garza y Los Musicales later, he had basically solidified himself as a premier Onda Tejana vocalist. And much like others had done after some success with “DLG,” went on to a solo career.

I had the opportunity to check out one of his early solo shows when he played at one of the barns behind the Freeman Coliseum in SA during their Rodeo. He blew the crowd away, even with gaudy pink lights backstage that spelled out “J A Y.”

Along with the new project is a “Behind The Music” kind of DVD.

The VH-1 “Behind the Music”-style DVD is nearly finished.

“For someone that’s a real fan, it’s great. Freddie’s got the right idea,” Velasquez added about the upcoming anthology.

As to why Perez deserves his Tejano nickname, “The Voice,” Velasquez didn’t mince words.

“It’s his ability to sing. He’s got that classic thing. He was able to combine the Tejano sound with the R&B sound with his voice,” he said.

And that’s why the rest of us are big fans of Jay’s.  It’s definitely the voice.

Again, check out the rest of the article for more on Perez and his musical stylings.