The NAMM TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) committee has announced that Leslie Ann Jones, the groundbreaking engineer, producer, and Director of Music and Scoring for Skywalker Sound will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame at the 34th Annual NAMM TEC Awards, Jan. 26 in Anaheim, CA. Jones joins luminaries Rose Mann Cherney, Skunk Baxter, Hal Blaine, Jack Douglas, Nathan East, Geoff Emerick, and others with her induction, the industry’s highest honor for pioneers of audio technology, as well as the music industry’s most accomplished producers and audio technicians.
“I am so honored to have been selected for this year’s TEC Hall of Fame,” shared Jones. “It is quite humbling to know I will be joining a list of past inductees whom I have admired, respected and looked up to my whole career.”
After beginning her career playing in rock bands and running her own live sound company, Jones went on to hold staff positions at ABC Recording Studios (Los Angeles), the Automatt Recording Studios (San Francisco), Capitol Studios (Hollywood), and now at Skywalker Sound.
From her early years assisting recording greats such as the legendary engineers Barney Perkins, Fred Catero and Roy Halee, Jones quickly became a preeminent engineer, at the helm of sessions for artists including Herbie Hancock, John Mayall, Santana, ConFunkShun, Frankie Beverly and Maze, the Whispers and Bobby McFerrin.
In 2000, she followed Phil Ramone's tenure to become the first woman ever to chair the Recording Academy (GRAMMY) Board of Trustees, and she is also the recipient of four Grammy Awards, including two for Best Engineered Album, Classical.
The NAMM TEC Hall of Fame award was first bestowed in 1988 and is presented at The NAMM TEC Awards annually during The NAMM Show, the global gathering of music, sound and event technology in Anaheim, California (January 24-27, 2019).
Purchase tickets in advance for $65 (General Admission) or $195 (VIP). The show begins with a VIP-only reception at 6 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 7 p.m., held in the Hilton Anaheim’s Pacific Ballroom. Stand-up comedian and entertainer Demetri Martin will return to host the celebration.
