Jay Berliner

Jay Berliner (born May 24, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Starting with his first television experience at age 7 on NBC’s The Children’s Hour with sister Eve, his career has spanned the globe: from the Metropolitan Opera house (the “old” Metropolitan Opera House in midtown Manhattan), where he was house guitarist and mandolinist; to Kenya’s 1963 Independence Day celebration as accompanist for Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba; touring Japan as a banjo soloist; performances at The White House; and more recently, playing onstage at the Metropolitan Opera (in the “new” house at Lincoln Center) with Barbara Cook, Audra McDonald, Josh Groban, and Elaine Strich, recorded live on DRG Records, Inc.

Recordings under his own name include Bananas Are Not Created Equal, Romantic Guitars, Erotic Guitars, three classical albums for Nippon-Columbia, and three classical albums for Spanish Music Center Records. Jay also can be heard on Romantic Sea of Tranquility under the pseudonym "Chris Valentino."

For almost 50 years, Jay has been an active studio musician, logging more than 13,000 recording sessions for records, commercials, motion pictures, etc., earning him seven NARAS Most Valuable Player awards as well as the NARAS MVP Virtuoso Award in 1986. He has played on albums by Charles Mingus (including The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady) and Ron Carter, George Benson’s White Rabbit, Stephane Grappeli’s Uptown Dance, Deodato’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, Milt Jackson’s Sunflower, and many other Creed Taylor recordings. Jay has recorded with numerous singers including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Jerry Vale, Astrud Gilberto, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sergio Franchi, Rupert Holmes, Frankie Valli, Debby Boone, Andrea Bocelli, Russell Watson, Harry Connick, Jr., Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Blossom Dearie, and LaTanya Hall.

He played on Van Morrison's 1968 album, Astral Weeks, and on November 7 and 8, 2008 joined with Morrison to play Astral Weeks in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. A vinyl LP and CD from these concerts entitled Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl were released in February 2009.

Jay is an original member of Rob Fisher's Coffee Club Orchestra on Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company and later at City Center’s ENCORES series. Jay is also an original member of the Guys All-Star Shoe Band on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He was the guitarist for Harry Belafonte in the early to mid 1960s, playing in venues all over the world. Jay has performed in concert with William Warfield and Earl Wild at the old Lewisohn Stadium, at Town Hall with Andre Velis, and with Charles Bressler, playing the American premier performance of songs for tenor and guitar by William Walton and Benjamin Britten.

As of 2009, he was playing banjo, mandolin, and baritone ukulele onstage in the hit Broadway show Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre.