Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, Vocals
About
- New York
- Hunker Hill Ramblers
- Kansas State University
- Lyn Hardy
- Putnam String County Band
- David Bromberg
- Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
- Fiddle Fever
- Ashokan Music Camps
- Ashokan Farewell
- Ruth Ungar
Jay was born on November 14, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Bronx, but chose to attend the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan to further his musical education of the violin.
After graduating H.S. in 1962, he spent time in Greenwich Village with pickers like Ted Marchbein and, later, Charlie Chin, who the pair met while auditioning at the Four Winds Café. The trio became The Hunker Hill Ramblers.
In September 1965 he entered Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) as a veterinary studies major.
In June of 1967 – while on summer break between his sophomore and junior years – Jay was recruited into the first version of Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys. By the end of the summer he had returned to KSU and the band needed to replace him.