By 2014, I'd already been transitioning for more than five years from working in traditional studios to almost exclusively doing field recordings overseas. As a result, I'd had some success with groups like Tinariwen, Malawi Mouse Boys, and The Good Ones. At that point, the...
The audio business is deeply personal for me, as it is for many of us. When I first met Leslie Ann Jones in 1991, I was thrilled to finally meet a female engineer. To see a woman in the boys' club and seeing her outshine the boys has been inspirational to me.
She is a multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is the daughter of novelty drummer, percussionist and bandleader Spike Jones and his wife, singer Helen Grayco.
But to categorize Leslie Ann Jones as noteworthy because she's a woman is insulting. She is one of the most revered engineer/producers of her generation. She is extraordinarily competent with a keen sense of humor and enormously generous to her associates. I learned a great deal in the time that I spent with her.
What I also discovered was how respected she is by her peers. One recordist told me, "I strive to be like her every time I enter the studio." She has also been remarkably generous and involved with the audio community, having served in leadership positions with SPARS and NARAS and donating her time each summer to teach recording to girls at the Institute for Musical Arts in Massachusetts.
She was, and still is, my role model.
