Jim Czak

Jim Czak was a recoding engineer and sound mixer best known as the co-owner of Nola Studios, the famed recording studio in New York City. He also worked in television, most notably on the iconic children's program Sesame Street, for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards.

Nola Studios, located in the Steinway Building on West 57th Street in Manhattan, on the same block as Carnegie Hall, was the site of countless sessions by some of the biggest names in music. A partial list of those who recorded there includes Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ahmad Jamal, Dave Brubeck, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, Dionne Warwick, Liza Minnelli, Elvis Costello, The Loving Spoonful, The McCoys, Burt Bacharach and many others.

Czak began his career as a touring musician with Joey Dee and the Starliters and Leslie Gore. After coming off the road in 1965, he found his way to Bell Sound Studios, where he recorded many notable artists of that era. Bell Sound laid the groundwork for Czak taking over Nola Recording Studios in 1977, where, for 38 years, he was owner and chief audio mixer and recording engineer. His love for jazz afforded him the opportunity to record countless jazz albums, working alongside timeless artists such as Lena Horn, George Shearing and Oscar Peterson.

He recorded numerous television and radio commercials, movie soundtracks and television shows, but was most proud of the 30 years of work he did for Sesame Street, for which he received four Daytime Emmy nominations for outstanding achievement in sound mixing; his two wins came in 2006 and 2008.

Czak died on March 15, 2017.