James Cruz is a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 winning audio mastering engineer and owner of Zeitgeist Sound Studios in Long Island City, New York.

Biography

James Cruz started his career in 1995 at The Hit Factory during its "golden age" under the tutelage of Tom Coyne, Chris Gehringer and Herb Powers Jr. While there he mastered records for artists such as Lil Kim, Toni Braxton, Mary Mary, Maxwell and Outkast.

After The Hit Factory, James moved to Sony Studios as a senior mastering engineer. There he worked on artists such as Natasha Bedingfield, Calle 13 and Lil Wayne. He also gained an international following with clients from Serbia, England, Australia and Japan.

In 2008 James opened Zeitgeist Sound Studios in Long Island City, New York. It's here that he won his first Latin Grammy for mastering "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo" by Calle 13.

Awards

Grammy: Calle 13- Best Latin Rock/Alt/Urban Album "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo" 2009

Grammy: Mary Mary- Best Gospel Song "God In Me" 2009

Latin Grammy: Calle 13- Album Of The Year 2009 "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo"

Grammy: Mary Mary- Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album "Thankful" 2000

Latin Grammy: Calle 13- Best Urban Music Album "Residente O Visitante" 2007

Credits

James has mastered over 400 albums, many of them winning either a gold or platinum certification. Some of note are:

Calle 13 :: Residente O Visitante

Calle 13 :: Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo

Mary Mary :: The Sound

Beyonce :: Above And Beyonce

Tye Tribbett & G.A. :: Stand Out

Tye Tribbett & G.A. :: Victory Live!

Lil Kim :: Hard Core

Montell Jordan :: Get It On...Tonight

Lil Wayne :: Tha Block Is Hot

Juvenile :: Tha G Code

Juvenile :: 400 Degreez

Big Tymers :: I Got That Work

Lil Wayne :: Lights Out

Mary Mary :: Thankful

Three-6 Mafia :: Da Unbreakables

Wu-Tang Clan :: W

Mary Mary :: Incredible

Lyfe Jennings :: Lyfe 268-192

Mary Mary :: Mary Mary

Three-6 Mafia :: Most Known Unknown

Natasha Bedingfied :: Unwritten

Nina Simone :: Remixed & Reimagined

Men Of Standard :: Surrounded

Sources

1. http://mixonline.com/recording/mastering/mastering-another-gray-area-1209/index.html

2. http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_hidden_sony_masters/index.html

3. http://www.prosoundnews.com/article/26688

4. http://www.zeitgeistsound.com

5.

6. Recording Magazine, April, 2010