A gifted and versatile musician since his first lesson at the age of 6, French Gypsy jazz guitarist Jean-Baptiste Laya is also a skilled composer, producer, technician and arranger. Born in France on December 27, 1972, Laya studied the French horn as a teenager and went on to earn a degree as an audio technician in 1992. After discovering the music of Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he found a passion for the jazz guitar and followed this artistic direction at the American School of Modern Music in Paris. A chance meeting with renowned Gypsy jazz guitarist Angelo Debarre introduced Laya to jazz manouche and led to ongoing collaborations with some of the genre's most prestigious names, including Babik Reinhardt, Biréli Lagrène, and Christian Escoudé.