original trio music & classic soul

The Diplomats of Funk is a collaboration between Grammy-winning credited engineer/producer/organist Jay Frigoletto and composer/arranger/guitarist Owen Ross. Through a shared love of R&B, funk, soul, and jazz they create a new voice for the classic organ trio. With nods to the past and eyes to the future, the Diplomats of Funk trio simply grooves.


Jay Frigoletto: Keyboards/Vocals

Bandleader Jay Frigoletto is a veteran of the Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston music scenes. As a producer/engineer he is credited on multiple gold, platinum, multi-platinum and Grammy-winning albums and has worked with a range of artists including Alice in Chains, Ani DiFranco, Black-Eyed Peas, INXS, Oasis, and Eddie Money. A Berklee trained pianist and multi-instrumentalist, he has toured, performed and recorded on both coasts since the age of sixteen with artists such as Peter Prince & Moon Boot Lover, Speech (Arrested Development), Lo Marie, and the Furious Bongos (touring Zappa tribute).

owen ross: Guitar/bass

Owen Ross is a musician, producer, engineer, and educator. Owen holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Composition & Arranging from The University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the University of Montana. As an engineer he has worked with a variety of artists in styles ranging from rock and pop to jazz and big band to hip hop and R&B. Owen can also be found in the studio or on stage combining influences from bebop, hard bop, blues, gospel, funk, hip-hop, and R&B into a musical voice that is forward-looking while grounded in a rich musical tradition of harmony, groove and swing.

JL Claybourne: drums

JL Claybourne is a highly sought-after drummer in the Boston music scene. A graduate of Berklee College of Music (2000), and member of the Percussive Arts Society, JL has served as an adjudicator for the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), and for Guitar Center’s National “Drum Off” Competition. He is a former student of Alan Dawson (Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Quincy Jones), John Ramsay (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers), Dave “yP” Cowan (Lalah Hathaway, Shirley Caesar), Jackie Santos (Tavares), Larry Finn (Paula Cole, Rent), Steve Wilkes (Blue Man Group), Kenwood Dennard (Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino, Stanley Jordan) and Poogie Bell (Marcus Miller, Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack).

diplomats organ trio / diplomats of funk

email: jay (at) promastering.com