Co-founder of VAP Records. Half of J.S. Floyd. Author of 13 books. Guitar instructor. Sound designer. He doesn't just talk about hustle — he's lived it.
Read the Full Story →
Stay in the Loop
No Spam. Just Real Updates.
New music, new books, live performances, and exclusive content. Join the list and get it first.
JLeslieMusic · SoloJ Leslie · VAP Records · Released May 17, 2026
'On You Radio'
Seven original tracks. Smooth jazz. Funk. Guitar-driven from the first note to the last. Four decades of musical experience distilled into seven songs — no filler, no guests, just pure guitar.
Brothers Jonathan (guitar) and Stafford (keyboards) Floyd have been crafting their signature 'Hot Funk/Cool Jazz' sound for decades. As J.S. Floyd, they bring a rare combination of technical mastery and soulful feel to every record.
Their debut album 'Check the Forecast' and single 'Two Piece and a Biscuit' have earned radio play on smooth jazz stations across the country. Their latest album, On You Radio, is out now on every major streaming platform.
Notable Collaborations
Holland-Dozier-Holland · The Supremes · Force MD's · Jon B. · Al B. Sure · Black Rock Coalition, New York
J.S. Floyd Live
The Catalog
225 Songs. Four Decades.
ASCAP registered. MLC enrolled. From Amityville, Long Island to Los Angeles to Beaverton, Oregon — the independent spirit never left.
JLeslieMusic
Solo · Smooth Jazz · Guitar
J.S. Floyd
Hot Funk / Cool Jazz Duo
VAP Records
Est. 1978 · Independent
Where It All Started
VAP Records Est. 1978
VAP Records — Virgin Archer Production — was a family-run independent dance label founded in 1978 in Amityville, Long Island, by Marquette Floyd and his sons Jonathan and Stafford Floyd. It arrived just as disco gave way to boogie: the leaner, funkier, synth-driven sound that ruled New York clubs from about 1979 to 1985.
The label's flagship act, Final Edition, featured the Floyd brothers, with Stafford Floyd and Reginald Brown producing. VAP's 12" singles were pressed in small numbers and worked through record pools and club DJs rather than mainstream radio. The roster also included Broadway (also featuring the brothers), Kevin Keys, Jazzee, and Olivia McClurkin.
The records found their biggest audience long after the label went quiet. In 2009, Duck Sauce — Armand Van Helden and A-Trak — built their hit "aNYway" on Final Edition's "I Can Do It (Anyway You Want)." It reached #1 on the UK Dance chart and #22 on the UK Singles chart, with Jonathan and Stafford Floyd credited as writers. The video has passed 10 million YouTube views, and the song later appeared in the video game Forza Horizon 4.
Final Edition's "Betcha Can't Love Just One" was used on General Hospital and HBO's How to Make It in America. In 2026, the French label Phil Boogie Times released Best of VAP Records — Rare Boogie Gems on vinyl, mastered from the original tapes, including two Broadway tracks that had never been released.
Flagship Act
Final Edition
"No Limit" · "I Can Do It (Anyway You Want)" · "Betcha Can't Love Just One" · "We're Moving On Straight Ahead"
UK Dance #1 · 10M+ YouTube Views
Duck Sauce — "aNYway"
Armand Van Helden and A-Trak's 2009 hit, built on Final Edition's "I Can Do It (Anyway You Want)"
Featured On
General Hospital · HBO
"Betcha Can't Love Just One" — used on General Hospital and HBO's How to Make It in America
2026 Vinyl Reissue
Best of VAP Records
Rare Boogie Gems — Phil Boogie Times (France), mastered from the original tapes
"VAP Records: Where family, friends, and unforgettable beats came together to make dance music history."
Hear Where It Went
Duck Sauce — "aNYway"
Armand Van Helden and A-Trak's 2009 hit, built on Final Edition's "I Can Do It (Anyway You Want)." Jonathan and Stafford Floyd are among the credited writers. Watch on YouTube
Still Filling Dance Floors
A DJ drops "aNYway" for a packed club crowd.
New Music First
Stay in the Loop
New releases, videos, and show dates, straight to your inbox.
Published Works
13 Books. One Mission.
Every book J Leslie has written comes from the same place: a belief that people deserve real knowledge, not watered-down advice. Entrepreneurship. Mindset. Fiction. Books that challenge you to think differently.
Two scientists create the perfect AI companions to cure loneliness, then watch relationships, and humanity itself, begin to crumble as people choose artificial intimacy over the messy reality of human love. A Black Mirror-style thriller about choosing comfort over connection, and the price that comes with it.
"Your life story, bound into a book your grandchildren will keep."
After publishing 13 books of his own, Jonathan now helps others put their life stories in print. Legacy Book Studio is a done-for-you memoir and family history service: you talk through your story in recorded conversations, and the studio writes, designs, and publishes it as a professional hardcover book.
It's made for retirees sharing a lifetime of lessons, families preserving where they came from, and anyone looking for a gift a parent or grandparent will never forget.
◆Portland, Oregon area · Private events, venues, and festivals
Inquire
Guitar Instruction
Hands 4 Hope
Jonathan teaches guitar at Hands 4 Hope Youth Organization — giving young people access to music as a path forward. Private instruction also available.
Inquire About Lessons
Sound & Lighting
Forecast Audio & Lighting
Professional sound and lighting services for live events, performances, and productions. With decades of hands-on experience in live audio, Jonathan brings the same attention to detail to your event that he brings to his music.
Live sound reinforcement
Stage lighting design
Event production
Venue setup and teardown
Get a Quote
Recent Work
Sherman Oaks Street Festival 2025
Live sound for the festival stage · Sherman Oaks, California
Hands 4 Hope · Hope Walk 2026
Sound for the annual Hope Walk community event
Live Updates
Never Miss a Show
Get tour dates and performance announcements first.
More Than 45 Years in the Making
Jonathan Leslie
J Leslie is the creative identity of Jonathan Floyd — musician, author, entrepreneur, and educator. His career has never fit a single category, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Co-founder of VAP Records. Half of J.S. Floyd. Author of 13 books. Guitar instructor. Sound designer. He doesn't just talk about hustle — he's lived it.
The Full Story
It started in 1978 in Amityville, Long Island, where Jonathan, his father Marquette Floyd, and his brother Stafford co-founded VAP Records — Virgin Archer Production. As President, Jonathan helped build an independent dance music label from scratch: producing 12" singles, working with record pools and DJs, and launching artists including Final Edition, Kevin Keys, Broadway, Jazzee, and Olivia McClurkin.
VAP's flagship act, Final Edition, featured Jonathan and Stafford and released singles including "No Limit," "Betcha Can't Love Just One," and "We're Moving On Straight Ahead." The track "Betcha Can't Love Just One" was featured on General Hospital and HBO's How to Make It in America. In 2009, Duck Sauce (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak) built the hit "aNYway" on Final Edition's "I Can Do It (Anyway You Want)", taking it to #1 on the UK Dance chart with Jonathan and Stafford credited as writers. In 2026, the label's best recordings were reissued on vinyl by Phil Boogie Times in France.
Jonathan during the VAP Records years
As a guitarist, Jonathan has shared stages and studios with some of the most respected names in R&B and jazz — Holland-Dozier-Holland, The Supremes, Force MD's, Jon B., Al B. Sure, and the artists of New York's Black Rock Coalition. As half of J.S. Floyd — 'The Distinguished Gentlemen of Smooth Jazz' — alongside his brother Stafford, he has built a catalog of 'Hot Funk/Cool Jazz' that continues to grow. Jonathan is a registered ASCAP member with 225 songs in catalog, and an enrolled member of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).
Under the J Leslie name, Jonathan has published 13 books for teens, young adults, and lifelong learners — spanning entrepreneurship, mindset, personal development, and fiction. His books are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Audiobook editions are available via Audible/ACX.
He writes from the same place he makes music: the deep interior. Influenced by thinkers like Joseph Murphy, whose work on the subconscious mind shaped his own understanding of reality, Jonathan brings street-level wisdom and philosophical depth to everything he creates, and writes the way he plays guitar: with conviction, instinct, and no wasted notes.
Jonathan teaches guitar at Hands 4 Hope Youth Organization, where he works with young people to build musical skills and confidence. Through Forecast Audio and Lighting, he provides professional sound and lighting design for live events and productions.
From Amityville, Long Island to Los Angeles, and now Beaverton, Oregon, Jonathan Leslie has spent a lifetime creating things worth hearing, reading, and experiencing. He's not done yet.
Music
VAP Records · Est. 1978 ASCAP Registered · MLC Enrolled 225 Songs in Catalog J.S. Floyd — Hot Funk/Cool Jazz Holland-Dozier-Holland · The Supremes Force MD's · Jon B. · Al B. Sure
Literature
13 Published Books Entrepreneurship · Personal Development Teen Mindset · Sci-Fi Fiction Kindle · Paperback · Audiobook U.S. Copyright Office Registered
Education & Production
Guitar Instructor Hands 4 Hope Youth Organization Forecast Audio and Lighting Free Information Network (FIN) Sound & Lighting Design
Philosophy
The FIN Way
The Free Information Network — sharing knowledge freely, without paywalls or funnels. If it helps someone, it gets shared.
Learn About FIN →
Stay Connected
Join the List
Music, books, and ideas. Straight to your inbox.
Free Information Network
Information Should Be Free.
The Free Information Network isn't a brand. It's a belief. Knowledge that helps people — real, practical, proven knowledge — should never be locked behind a paywall, withheld for profit, or gatekept by those who already have access.
The Philosophy Behind Everything J Leslie Does
I'm a card-carrying member of the Free Information Network (FIN).
In a digital landscape dominated by paywalls, manipulated algorithms, and endless monetization schemes, FIN represents a different path: knowledge shared freely, information vetted by integrity rather than profit margins, and content created to genuinely help rather than extract.
The internet has become a marketplace where truth is the rarest commodity. Every click comes with a price — either they're selling you something that doesn't deliver, or you're paying with your time, wading through content designed to serve advertisers rather than answer your questions. The signal-to-noise ratio has never been worse.
FIN is the alternative. It's a commitment to sharing what actually works, what's actually true, what actually matters — without the middleman, without the upsell, without the grift. Expertise and experience offered in good faith, accessible to anyone who needs it.
This is why my books exist in this space. Real strategies, honest insights, practical wisdom — not breadcrumbs leading to a paid masterclass. Just the information you need, because that's what FIN members do: we contribute to a knowledge commons that values truth over traffic, substance over clicks, and human development over conversion rates.
What This Means in Practice
FIN in Action
01
Books on Amazon KDPPriced for accessibility, not maximum profit. Real strategies, honest insights — no breadcrumbs leading to a paid masterclass.
02
YouTube ContentFree video education on entrepreneurship, mindset, and music. No subscription wall. No algorithm games.
03
Guitar at Hands 4 HopeTeaching youth who might otherwise never get access to quality music education. Knowledge as a path forward.
04
This WebsiteA free resource hub, not a sales funnel. Information that helps people should flow freely — full stop.
Principle 01
Information that helps people should be free. Paywalls are barriers. Knowledge is a right, not a luxury product.
Principle 02
Share what you know. The more freely knowledge moves, the more value it creates for everyone — including the one sharing it.
Principle 03
Access is not charity. Removing barriers to knowledge is basic decency. No one should be priced out of learning.
Principle 04
The art and the knowledge are separate things. Sell the record. Share the music theory. Sell the book. Share the ideas.
The Invitation
Welcome to the Network.
If you believe information should liberate rather than leverage — if you're tired of being the product instead of the person being served — if you want to contribute to or benefit from a system where knowledge flows freely — you're already thinking like FIN.
If you create content that honors these principles — if you share knowledge without the hustle, offer expertise without the upsell, provide value without the extraction — simply tag your work:
"Member of the Free Information Network (FIN)"
No application required. No membership fee. No central authority. Just your commitment to the standard: real information, freely shared, genuinely helpful. This is how we build the alternative. One honest post at a time.
Free Guide · FIN in Practice
Build Your Own Website with AI.
I rebuilt this site with AI, moved it to low-cost hosting, and cut my yearly website cost by up to 85%. No coding required. Here's exactly how, with the real numbers.
What It Costs
Cost
Before
After
Website plan / hosting
$204 a year
$0, free hosting
Domain name
about $28 a year
about $28 a year
Total
about $232 a year
about $28 a year
Free hosting allows about 20 updates a month across all your sites. Run several sites or update often? The $9-a-month plan brings the total to about $136 a year, still well under $232.
How Long It Takes
Stage
Time
Gather photos, bio, links, covers
1 to 2 hours
Build and revise with AI
one evening
Connect your domain
about 30 minutes
Wait for the switch
a few hours to 2 days
No coding skills needed. If you can describe what you want, drag a folder, and copy and paste, you can do this.
The Seven Steps
Gather your material. Full-size photos, bio, covers, links and videos in one folder.
Describe the site to the AI. Who you are, who it's for, the pages, and the look you want.
Review it on a free test address. Check it on your phone, laptop and a big screen.
Revise in plain English. "Use the other headshot." "Move this video lower."
Turn on your forms. So signups and messages reach your inbox.
Point your domain to the new site. Enter your host's nameservers where you bought the domain.
Cancel the old plan last. Keep the domain itself on auto-renew.
Getting Found on Google and AI Search
Build it in. Ask the AI for a page title and description, social preview tags, structured data, alt text on images, and a sitemap.
Keep it fast. Compressed images and a layout that works on a phone.
Pick your keywords. 5 to 10 phrases people would search to find you, plus your city if you work locally. Use them naturally in titles, headings and first paragraphs.
Write plain facts. Who you are, what you do, where, with names and dates. AI tools repeat clear statements.
Be consistent. The same name, photo and bio on every platform, all linked together.
Tell the search engines. Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console, then import it into Bing Webmaster Tools.
Give it time. New sites take days to a few weeks to show up.
Members of the media: A full press kit including bio, high-res photos, and music samples is available upon request. Select 'Press / Media Inquiry' in the form.
