Scrolling through his discography is even more daunting – his hands and ears have literally shaped our collective music history. Just the numbers alone are mind-boggling: 727 recordings, 160 gold and platinum albums and 23 Grammy Awards. In fact, Al Schmitt’s footprint in the recording industry is hard to fathom or even put down in words. Working his formative years under the tutelage of many of the era’s legendary engineers, he honed his craft before relocating to California. From there, his path was pretty much laid out.

That scene was buzzing, with loads of work and studios scattered all over the city. This was in the thriving days of the late 1930s New York big band and jazz scene. Already at the age of seven, he hung out with his uncle Harry, who also was an engineer, to help set out chairs for musicians, clean patch cables and whatever came with being a helper during sessions back then. In retrospect, figuring out that Al would end up behind a console is somewhat of a no-brainer.

Toontrack decades