Gene William Paul (born August 20, 1944) is an American audio recording / mixing / mastering engineer, producer and musician. He was an engineer at Atlantic Recording Studios during their famed 1960s–80s period and is currently the chief mastering engineer at G&J Audio, a mixing and mastering studio for major and independent labels focused on reissues and new recordings. He has worked on thousands of projects, and has engineered 9 Grammy Award-winning albums with 29 total nominations in 15 different categories. He has engineered many hit recordings, including 7 #1's on the Billboard National Charts, 6 #1's on the Pop Charts, 10 #1's on the Jazz Charts and 5 #1's on the R&B Charts.
Early years
Gene Paul is the son of the guitarist and inventor Les Paul, the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar and early innovator of multitrack recording.Williamson, Don, "Gene Paul... A Stickler for Imperfection” , '’Jazz Review'’, January 29, 2006. Retrieved 2012-08-05. Gene spent his youth developing his engineering skills in the family recording studio and spent a decade as the drummer in his father's touring band from 1959 to 1969, with singer Mary Ford (his stepmother) for the first half.Kruth, John, "Shut Up & Learn – The Auspicious Apprenticeship of Gene Paul” , '’Wax Poetics'’, March/April 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-05. "Without even knowing it, I was being taught about presenting music, which was a great experience. I worked on putting the shows together with dad. I watched him record his own music as well as groups. If he said, 'Do you want to know about this?' I'd say, 'Yes.' And I'd go set up a mic. By the time I grew up, I knew how to record."
Atlantic Records
His career took off after joining Atlantic Records in 1969 where he quickly became a world-renowned engineer and producer. "The people there, like Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, Joel Dorn, Ahmet Ertegun, they were all gentle people. You would think that they were all superstars, but they never acted that way. Being at Atlantic was like being welcomed into someone's house. It was a house of music. You never knew who was going to come in, one day Aretha [Franklin], the next The Modern Jazz Quartet, King Curtis, Gladys Knight. ... It was truthfully hard to go home at night."
Mastering In the 1980s, Paul began working with Atlantic Records producer Joel Dorn and Atlantic Records engineer Joel Kerr to restore and remaster the recordings of rare live performances by famous artists. This led Paul & Kerr to form DB Plus Digital Services, an independent mastering studio which operated in New York City from 1987 to 2009. In 2010, he became Chief Mastering Engineer at G&J Audio, a mixing and mastering studio for major and independent labels focused on reissues and new recordings, alongside Kerr and engineer Jamie Polaski.
Grammy Awards Gene Paul has engineered 9 Grammy Award-winning albums with 29 total nominations in 15 different categories. (Years listed are album release dates.) Year Artist Album Label Producer Category Role 1970 Aretha Franklin Don't Play That Song Atlantic Records Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd WINNER: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Recording Engineer 1971 Aretha Franklin "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (single) Atlantic Records Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd WINNER: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Recording Engineer"Aretha Franklin – Aretha’s Greatest Hits”, Discogs. Retrieved 2012-08-25. 1971 Aretha Franklin Young, Gifted and Black Atlantic Records Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd WINNER: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Recording Engineer 1973 Roberta Flack Killing Me Softly Atlantic Records Joel Dorn WINNER: Record of the Year Recording Engineer 1973 Roberta Flack "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (single) Atlantic Records Joel Dorn WINNER: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female Recording Engineer 1974 Average White Band AWB Atlantic Records Arif Mardin Best R&B Instrumental Performance (for "Pick Up the Pieces")"AWB History” , Average White Band.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Recording Engineer 1975 Average White Band Cut the Cake Atlantic Records Arif Mardin Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male (for "Cut the Cake") Recording Engineer 1978 Average White Band Warmer Communications Atlantic Records Arif Mardin Best R&B Instrumental Performance (for "Sweet & Sour") Recording Engineer 1995 John Coltrane Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings Rhino Records Joel Dorn Best Historical AlbumPorter, Lewis, , '’John Coltrane: His Life and Music’’, University of Michigan Press, January 27, 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-24. Mastering Engineer 1997 Various Artists Cuba: I Am Time Blue Jackel Entertainment Jack O'Neil Best Historical AlbumCarlozo, Lou, "Chicago Artists are Well-represented In Grammy Nominations”, Chicago Tribune, January 7, 1998. Retrieved 2012-08-24. Mastering Engineer 1997 Various Artists Cuba: I Am Time Blue Jackel Entertainment Jack O'Neil Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Mastering Engineer 1998 Arkadia Jazz All Stars Thank You, John! Our Tribute to John Coltrane Arkadia Jazz Bob Karcy Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (soloist: David Liebman)"Full Biography” , Dave Liebman.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer"Arkadia Jazz All-Stars: Thank You John”, VIEW Video & Arkadia Label Group. Retrieved 2012-08-24. 1998 Arkadia Jazz All Stars Thank You, Gerry! Our Tribute to Gerry Mulligan Arkadia Jazz Bob Karcy Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (soloist: Randy Brecker), All About Jazz. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 1998 Benny Golson Tenor Legacy Arkadia Jazz Bob Karcy Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (for "Body and Soul")"Benny Golson” , Jazz at Lincoln Center. 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 1999 Joanne Brackeen Pink Elephant Magic Arkadia Jazz Bob Karcy Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (for "In Vogue")"JoAnne Brackeen, Professor” , Berklee College of Music. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2000 Bobby Sanabria Afro-Cuban Dream... Live & in Clave!!! Arabesque Recordings Bobby Sanabria Best Latin Jazz Album"Faculty Experts”, The New School. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2003 Shirley Horn May the Music Never End Blue Note Records Shirley Horn Best Jazz Vocal Album"Tribute to Mesterhazy featured in second week of Cape May Music Festival” , '’Shore News Today'’, September 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2003 Kurt Elling Man in the Air Blue Note Records Bill Traut Best Jazz Vocal Album"Kurt Elling”, All About Jazz. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2004 Norah Jones Feels Like Home Blue Note Records Norah Jones, Arif Mardin WINNER: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Sunrise")"Past Winners Search”, '’Grammy.com'’. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2004 Maria Schneider Orchestra Concert in the Garden ArtistShare Maria Schneider WINNER: Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Mastering Engineer"Album Details” , Maria Schneider.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25. 2005 Rick Moranis The Agoraphobic Cowboy WEPI / ArtistShare Tony Scherr Best Comedy AlbumGerstein, Ted & Berman, John, "Rick Moranis on His Transformation Into a Grammy-Nominated Country Western Singer”, ABC's '’Nightline'’, February 5, 2006. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2005 John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble A Blessing Omnitone Records John Hollenbeck Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album"The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards Roundup: Jazz Field” , Grammy.org. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2005 Various Artists Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers Nostalgia Records Dennis Scott WINNER: Best Musical Album for Children Mastering Engineer 2007 Maria Schneider Orchestra Sky Blue ArtistShare Maria Schneider WINNER: Best Instrumental Composition (for "Cerulean Skies") Mastering Engineer 2007 Maria Schneider Orchestra Sky Blue ArtistShare Maria Schneider Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album"Album Details: Sky Blue” , Maria Schneider.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25. Mastering Engineer 2007 Bobby Sanabria Big Band Urban Folktales Jazzheads Bobby Sanabria Best Latin Jazz Album Mastering Engineer 2009 Leslie Mendelson Swan Feathers Rykodisc Joel Dorn Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical"2010 Grammy Award Nominations Announced” , '’Mix'’, December 3, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-024. Mastering Engineer 2011 Fred Hersch Alone at the Vanguard Palmetto Fred Hersch Best Improvised Jazz Solo (for "Work")“Exploring the GRAMMYs’ Jazz Field Nominees” Grammy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24. Mixing & mastering engineer 2011 Various Artists All About Bullies... Big and Small Cool Beans Music Steve Pullara Best Musical Album for Children“Exploring the Children’s Field Nominees” Grammy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24. Mastering Engineer
Recordings In addition to the Grammy Awards listed above, Gene Paul has engineered many hit recordings, including 7 #1's on the Billboard National Charts, 6 #1's on the Pop Charts, 10 #1's on the Jazz Charts and 5 #1's on the R&B Charts. Year Artist Album Chart Position Role 1961 Eddie Harris "Exodus" (single) #16 R&B, #36 US Remastering Engineer 1968 Eddie Harris "It's Crazy" (single) #88 US Remastering Engineer 1969 Eddie Harris & Les McCann Swiss Movement #1 Jazz, #2 R&B, #29 US Remixing & Remastering Engineer 1969 R.B. Greaves R.B. Greaves #24 R&B, #85 US Mixing Engineer 1971 Eddie Harris & Les McCann Second Movement #1 Jazz, # 41 US Recording and Remastering Engineer 1971 Les McCann Invitation to Openness #8 Jazz Remastering Engineer 1971 Donny Hathaway Donny Hathaway #6 R&B, #89 US Recording Engineer 1972 Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway #3 US, #2 R&B, #10 Jazz Recording Engineer 1972 Cream Live Cream Volume II #27 US Remixing Engineer 1972 Herbie Mann Hold On, I'm Coming #7 Jazz Mixing Engineer 1973 Bette Midler Bette Midler #6 US Recording Engineer 1973 Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette #33 US Recording Engineer 1973 Willie Nelson Shotgun Willie #41 US Recording Engineer 1973 Les McCann Layers #5 Jazz Remastering Engineer 1973 Modern Jazz Quartet Blues on Bach #34 Jazz Recording and Mixing Engineer 1973 Donny Hathaway Extension of a Man #18 R&B, #69 US Recording Engineer 1973 Bee Gees Mr. Natural #178 US Recording Engineer 1974 Modern Jazz Quartet The Complete Last Concert #34 Jazz Mixing Engineer 1976 The Rolling Stones Black and Blue #1 US Recording Engineer"Black and Blue", Wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2012-08-25. 1976 Willie Nelson The Troublemaker #1 Country, #60 US Recording Engineer 1977 Ben E. King Benny & Us #14 R&B, #33 US Recording Engineer 1979 Bette Midler Thighs and Whispers #65 US Recording Engineer 1983 Paul Simon Hearts and Bones #35 US Recording Engineer 1993 David "Fathead" Newman Bigger & Better #10 Jazz, #42 R&B Remastering Engineer 1998 Various Artists Jazz for the Open Road #1 Jazz Mastering Engineer 1998 Various Artists Jazz for the Quiet Times #1 Jazz Mastering Engineer 1999 Various Artists Jazz for When You're Alone #1 Jazz Mastering Engineer 1999 Various Artists Jazz for a Lazy Day #4 Jazz Mastering Engineer 2000 Various Artists Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon #1 Jazz Mastering Engineer 2000 Jane Monheit Never Never Land #2 Jazz Mixing & Mastering Engineer 2000 Various Artists Jazz for When You're in Love #9 Jazz Mastering Engineer 2001 Jane Monheit Come Dream with Me #1 Jazz Mixing & Mastering Engineer 2002 Jane Monheit In the Sun #2 Jazz Recording, Mixing & Mastering Engineer 2003 Various Artists Jazz for Those Peaceful Moments #4 Jazz Mastering Engineer 2007 Mocean Worker Cinco de Mowo! #16 Electronic Mastering Engineer
References
External links G&J Audio Gene Paul on AllMusic Gene Paul on Artistdirect Gene Paul on Album Credits Gene Paul interview by Don Williamson in Jazz Review, Jan. 2006 Gene Paul interview by John Kruth in Wax Poetics, Mar./Apr. 2010 Gene Paul interview by Danny Littwin in Producao Audio, Sept. 2010