James Farber is a Grammy Award winning recording and mixing engineer. He started his career in the mid 1970s working at the legendary Power Station studio in New York (now the site of Avatar Studios). After a stint working with Nile Rogers, he went out on his own as a freelance engineer in the 1980s. Since then, he's been one of the most highly respected and in demand engineers in New York, specializing in jazz and improvised music. Although he's made hundreds of records for notable jazz artists, some of longest standing relationships have been with Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Joshua Redman, and the late Michael Brecker.

Here he talks about getting started in the record business, the aesthetic and professional choices he makes, the evolution of recording technology, and much more.