We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Nelson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jason, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I was really lucky to have a solid music education growing up. I did all the traditional stuff like school bands, private lessons, and an occasional jazz ensemble. I’m super grateful for that. But looking back, the path we were shown felt pretty limited. The focus was always on classical, jazz, world music, and the careers tied to that (jobs like becoming a school band director, playing in a symphony, or maybe going into audio engineering). No one ever talked about the kind of work I do now.

I perform saxophone and piano at high-end weddings, private events, and nightlife parties. It’s a mix of live music and high energy, interactive entertainment. The sax with DJ concept is huge right now, but it was never mentioned when I was in school. Same with modern pop or dance music: it just wasn’t considered part of the curriculum. I thought you either had to be the next Ed Sheeran or settle for teaching or doing small bar gigs and just scraping by.

Now that I’ve been in the event world for a while, I realize how big this industry really is and how much opportunity there is for musicians who know how to connect with a crowd and run a business. Social media has completely changed the game, too. I’m not the most technically skilled musician out there, and that’s okay. What matters most in what I do is how I make people feel. It’s not just about the notes: it’s about body language, stage presence, dancing, and knowing how to read a room.

If I could change one thing about music education, it would be showing students that there are more paths out there than they realize. You don’t have to be a prodigy to make a great living doing what you love. Things like being reliable, knowing how to market yourself, understanding trends, being a good person- those matter just as much, if not more, than playing everything perfectly. I wish someone had told me that earlier.

Jason, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey! I’m Jason, and I go by the stage name, “The Essential Jason Nelson.” I’m a high-energy sax and piano entertainer based in Hoboken, NJ, dedicated to transforming events into electrifying, memorable occasions.

My Journey:
Growing up in the NJ suburbs, I immersed myself in music from a young age, learning how to play the piano, saxophone, guitar, recorder, and harmonica before turning ten. My perfect pitch allows me to play songs by ear, a skill that became the foundation of my musical career. After earning a B.S. in Marketing and a Certificate in Recording Arts from Rutgers University in 2017, I initially pursued a career in marketing. However, after discovering the DJ & Sax combo within the private event & nightlife industry, I became obsessed with the concept of blending my musical talents with my love for entertaining others in a high energy fashion. In 2020, I made the decision to leave my 9 to 5 marketing job and fully commit to my passion for creating unforgettable experiences through performing.

Services and Offerings:

I specialize in providing live saxophone and piano performances tailored to a variety of events, including weddings, private parties, festivals, nightclubs, and corporate events. Collaborating with DJs, I enhance the musical experience, ensuring each event is unique and engaging. I specialize in high-energy dance music, especially when I’m jamming along to EDM remixes that blend Top-40, alternative and punk rock, 2000s hip-hop, and disco- anything that gets people moving and keeps the energy electric all night. My favorite events I play are ones where guests already bring the energy, so I feed off them and we create a nonstop party together.

Proud Moments and Achievements:
I’ve had the honor of performing at over 450 events, including more than 250 weddings. Notable highlights include appearances on national platforms such as Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” MTV’s “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” and Bravo TV’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” I’ve also performed at venues like The Edge at Hudson Yards & LIV Miami Nightclub and have also performed for my favorite sports team, The New York Jets (@The New York Mets – let’s collab next – I’m also a HUGE lifelong fan). I’ve also been fortunate to travel to destination events several times a year. Recent performances include events in Dubai, St. Maarten, Aruba, Mexico, & Puerto Rico.

What Sets Me Apart & My Mission:
Clients often describe me as the “life of the party,” a testament to the energy and enthusiasm I bring to every performance. My ability to connect with audiences, combined with a diverse musical range, ensures that each event is both personal and unforgettable. Whether it’s a wedding ceremony or a lively nightclub, I adapt my performance to suit the atmosphere and audience. For me, it’s less about the exact notes I play but how I make my clients & guests feel. My mission is to ensure my clients & guests have the best night of their life. I’m also extremely passionate about tripling down on your strengths instead of dwelling on your weaknesses. As cliche as it sounds, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Since I’m super fortunate to have a great balance between my work life and my personal life, this career has been a dream come true for me.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes, my side hustle absolutely turned into my full-time career, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I started playing events back in 2019 while working a full-time job in email marketing for a retail company in New Jersey. Music has always been a core part of who I am: I have almost 20 years of playing experience on both the piano and the saxophone. With perfect pitch and a love for everything from mainstream dance music to alternative rock, I was constantly creating mashups and covers, and eventually I started posting short clips to Instagram during my free time.

Things really took off when a friend’s sister asked me to play her wedding. I was supposed to just handle the cocktail hour on the piano, but I ended up staying through the whole night, jamming with the DJ on the sax. The energy was unreal, and I knew I wanted more of that. I started reaching out to entertainment companies in the NJ/NYC area and gradually built a steady flow of gigs which I would do mostly on the weekends in addition to my 9-5 marketing job. After work hours though, I’d devote my “5-9” to networking with industry professionals like DJ’s, event planners, musicians, and photographers and continuing to grow my online presence. Within my first year of playing events back in 2019, I performed for Angelina Pivarnick’s wedding which was later shown on MTV’s “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” a series that I grew up a huge fan of. I was confident that if I could get gigs like this within my first year of starting a side hustle, the sky was the limit for my business if I took it full time.

I had planned to leave my day job in early 2020 to go full-time with music, but then the pandemic hit, and all my bookings vanished. Luckily, I kept my marketing job through that tough stretch and used the downtime to build the business infrastructure: updating my website, building relationships, posting content, and improving my systems.

Once live events bounced back in 2021, demand exploded and I performed about 3-4 times a weekend. After moving to Hoboken around this time, I gained even more perspective on nightlife culture, surrounded by DJs, promoters, and industry pros, I regularly performed at local bars and high-energy brunches. That experience shaped my performance style and taught me how to bring that same electric, party-ready energy into weddings and private events.

I’m so grateful to have been able to support myself solely off event performances over the past 4.5 years. I’ve had the chance to perform at hundreds of weddings, private events, and celebrations across the country, and I approach each one with a focus on energy, musicality, and creating a genuine connection with the crowd.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Absolutely! One of the most influential voices in shaping my entrepreneurial mindset has been Gary Vaynerchuk. Back in 2019-2020, when I was just starting to take my music business seriously, I was constantly consuming his content on Instagram, TikTok, and his podcast. His energy, directness, and insights really lit a fire under me, and I quickly adopted a “no excuses” mindset towards taking control of my life.

His book “Crush It!” was especially impactful. It laid out the power of building a personal brand online before that became common advice, and honestly, it couldn’t have been more accurate. While I’ve always had a strong in-person network of friends and peers, I can say confidently that the doors opened in my career largely because of social media. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok let me connect with DJs, planners, and clients I never would’ve met otherwise. To this day, social media is still my #1 source for new leads.

Just recently, I flew to Mexico to play a wedding because the bride found one of my videos on TikTok of me playing the sax at a wedding. That kind of visibility and opportunity simply wouldn’t exist without showing up online, and GaryVee was one of the first to drive that point home to me. His philosophy around content, consistency, and community continues to influence how I show up as both a performer and entrepreneur.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.essentialjasonnelson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EssentialJasonNelson
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@essentialjasonnelson

Image Credits

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