“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”

— Henry Ford

Jorge Espinosa-Cruz

Jorge has been adding value to the audio engineering world for over a decade.

He started building his foundation as an engineer through the role of a live sound engineer for several bands, theatrical plays, churches, and festivals. Through this work, Jorge has been able to maintain a strong working relationship with local companies and artists while expanding in the music industry.

He understands that it’s always a collaboration between several individuals and never a solo affair.

Building on his momentum as a sound engineer, has had the privilege as a freelance engineer to be Front of House engineer for several large festivals in the Charlotte and surrounding areas. With this experience, he has tapped into an assortment of music genres, including Hip-Hop, Latin, Gospel, Big Band, Rock, R&B, Country, Jazz and Christian to name a few.

With a careful balance between music, creativity, and technicality, Jorge is able to bring together the artist’s vision that sparks an excitement within their music. He has crafted his musical style through his background in both the music and technical world.

Jorge musical background was prompted by a classical beginning with his main instrument being the violin. Several years later while in Chicago, he added another musical instrument to his skills; he became a Latin percussionist. Although, Jorge enjoyed being connected to the stage, he knew his true calling was being the man behind the board. He still finds time to grab his instruments and lay down some rhythmic tracks, but he mostly uses those musical gifts behind the boards to enhance his ability to craft quality projects for his clients.

Prior to being engraved in the engineering world, Jorge and his brother, Aria Cruz, toured with a very successful 10 musician group. They also continue to write music and produce for other artists while working with industry professionals.

Jorge’s technical background comes from achieving both a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration concentrating on Global Management. With his intent to master the audio engineering industry, Jorge has been mentored by/under several Audio professionals locally and internationally. He also obtained an Audio Engineering Certificate from CPCC., finished Berklee School of Music Mastering Online classes and received a Mastering certification through the Mastering Academy. Jorge is also Dante Level 1 and Level 2 certified.

Jorge has proved that he is qualified musically and technically through both his education and experience. He is reminded of why working on music is his passion every time he witnesses the artist’s reaction to the finished product. He will be pleased to discuss the needs of your next creative project. Jorge Espinosa-Cruz can deliver a professional, creative product for you.

Notable achievements: 

  1. Indigo Soul Children - Global Music awards - Won Two Silver Medals - December, 2019 Entry #1119-3055
  2. Martin Musaubach “All Kinds of Good” – Won: 2017 Golden Melody Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year, In Asia. 
  3. Three Grammy nominations in the Asian Market (2017) for Album: “All Kinds of Goods” by Martin Musaubach. Nominations were: 
    1. Best Album 
    2. Best Album Production 
    3. Best Composer 
  4. Album: “Leap” by Adrian Crutchfield reach #29 on the top 30 billboard charts for Smooth Jazz in the US, week of May 13, 2017. 
  5. Considered for Grammy nomination in the US (2016) Album: “Bespeak: Love”, Song: “You Got Me” by Jarod Lawson. The album is a compilation album of different artist.
  6. The People's Choice Awards - Ground Breakin 2018 Nominees:
    1. A.K.A Bespeak Album Nomination for Best Soul Album.
  7. UK Soul Charts Top 30: 
    1. "A.K.A. Bespeak" Album Reached #1 - March 29, 2018
    2. "A.K.A. Bespeak" Album Reached #2 - March 22, 2018
    3. “BeSpeak: Love” Album Reached #1 - November 09, 2015. 
  8. The Official Indie Soul Chart:
    1. Ronnie Wright: "I'll Always Love You" #29 - 3/11/18
  9. Indie Soul Top 30 Charts: 
    1. Ronnie Wright: “Adore” #12 week 45 11/5/2017 
    2. Ronnie Wright: “Adore” #23 week 42 10/15/2017 
    3. Ronnie Wright: “Adore” #30 week 40 10/10/2017 
  10. Record Pool Latino - Top 40 Latin Charts Chart #201802, West Palm Beach, FL: 
    1. Javier Mendoza: "Dime La Verdad" #12 Chart #201806 - 6/1/2018 - 7/1/2018
    2. Javier Mendoza: "Dime La Verdad" #14 Chart #201805 - 5/1/2018 - 6/1/2018
    3. Javier Mendoza: "Dime La Verdad" #16 Chart #201804 - 4/1/2018 - 5/1/2018
    4. Javier Mendoza: "Dime La Verdad" #19 Chart #201803 - 3/1/2018 - 4/1/2018
    5. Javier Mendoza: “Dime La Verdad” #24 Chart #201802 - 2/1/2018 – 3/1/2018 
  11. Mastering Academy Mastering Engineer Certification
  12. Berklee College of Music Online - Mastering
  13. Dante Level 1 Certified
  14. Dante Level 2 Certified
  15. Bachelors in Electrical Engineering
  16. M.B.A. Concentration in Global Management

Jorge is truly honored by these accomplishments and among others. His passion for music is a direct reflection of his hard work and dedication.

Press Photos

“All of my sessions with Jorge at Tropic Culture Studio and Audio Production is stellar! Great gear, great room, great engineering and even better company! Normally after sessions we spend more time talking gear and learning new ways to be more efficient in production. I fly from the west coast for Tropic Culture. I will never allow any other engineer to work on my projects.”

— Christopher V. Turner

“Jorge is the best engineer I've ever worked with! He is amazing at capturing tones and getting great sounds in the studio. In the recording process, he helped us to make important musical decisions that shaped the project and made it really spectacular sonically! He has a great ear and understanding of rhythm. and harmony, which is incredibly rare. Something that also really impressed me was his time-management. He was able to get everything set-up, mic'd and sounding great within no time. Not to mention that on top of his skill-sets, he really is a fun guy to hang with! I will use Jorge for every project going forward in my career, and in all my experiences in this industry he is my most trusted sound engineer!”

— -Taylor Lee

“Recording my second album at Tropic Culture Studio was by far on of the best decisions I made in years. The gear, both analogue and digital, the session musicians available, the rooms, everything is of the highest quality. But this is not the most important thing, the human quality, the hard work and discipline, and above all, the love for music of Jorge Espinosa is really inspiring. He will always ask to do one more take, regardless of the time already spent, he will always be willing to listen again to the finished mastered track one more time, just to be sure the outcome is the best possible, and also, always be open minded and creative to find solutions whenever project encounters any problems. It was a pleasure to work at Tropic Culture and meet and learn from Mr. Espinosa and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to do a true professional music production, weather is Jazz, Latin, R&B, Gospel or Movie Soundtracks. ”

— -Martin Musaubach

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