Jay Hoggard was born September 24, 1954 in Washington, D.C. but grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. His mother taught him how to play piano at a young age and picked up the saxophone long before age 15 when he started playing the vibraphone. He played with Anthony Davis and Leo Smith  in the early 1970s around New England.

After moving to New York City in 1988 Jay worked again with Davis and with Chico Freeman,