Wayne Jones is a composer, songwriter, improvising musician, educator, and innovator whose work bridges the worlds of film, television, and contemporary music. He is best known for his underscore and songs featured in series such as White Collar, House M.D., Graceland, The Resident, Criminal Minds, Parenthood, The Daily Show, and RuPaul’s Drag Race. His work across disciplines reflects a deep commitment to narrative and storytelling, using music to illuminate character, emotion, and dramatic arc.
As a media composer, Wayne was commissioned by Google to create original music for the YouTube Audio Library, producing soundtrack cues and songs across genres such as cinematic, pop, ambient, and hip-hop.
His work for film includes music for That Thing You Do, Tuesdays with Morrie, and the Barbra Streisand–Seth Rogen film The Guilt Trip.
As a pianist and keyboardist, Wayne has performed with numerous touring jazz and classical artists, recorded and performed concert works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and led his own jazz trio in Tokyo and Los Angeles.
His works for advertising include music for the NFL, Viasat, Playtex, Campbell’s Soup, Pfizer, Lever, and the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
He is also recognized for his work as a songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer, having produced over 60 albums for Lifescapes Music and RedTulip Music, spanning genres including jazz, Latin, and World Music.
Wayne’s original music as a recording artist has charted in Billboard Magazine’s TikTok Top 50, and his film music has earned Gold Record recognition from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His television compositions have been recognized with multiple SESAC Performance Awards for underscores featured in White Collar and Graceland, as well as for songs featured in House M.D., Parenthood, and other television shows and films.
He is currently part-time faculty at both the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Mannes School of Music at The New School University, where he teaches courses including Film Scoring, Scoring in the Style Of..., and Sound and Story, and directs the Radiohead, Boygenius, and Yebba ensembles.
As an educator and mentor, Wayne believes that imagination and the arts are essential to human development and creative innovation. He is dedicated to helping students cultivate their artistic voices through the lens of story, emotion, and expressive intent.
Previously, Wayne served as a Lecturer in Audio Design at the University of Southern California’s Iovine and Young Academy, where he taught courses such as Audio & Media Integration, Digital Toolbox: Sound and Audio, and a special topics course exploring the narrative role of sound and audio in product design, environmental design, immersive experiences, and multimedia.
In the field of design, Wayne is the co-founder of Vidami and co-inventor of Vidami’s patented foot-controlled devices for looping, slowing down, and navigating video content for friction-free learning on YouTube and over 70 online learning platforms.