Jee Ken Tsokee, who went by the alias Jay, was once a Jedi Padawan and a musician, specifically a singer. This human male individual possessed Force-sensitivity and lived through the Clone Wars. He managed to survive Order 66 during a Clone Wars skirmish. Later, he encountered Geezer Odajion, a Hutt guitarist, who took him in. Following this encounter, Jay became the frontman for Odajion's band, known as Star Waver.
Sometime during the Imperial Era, Jabba the Hutt offered a bounty for Odajion's capture because the guitarist refused to be a part of Jabba's criminal organization. The bounty hunter Boba Fett successfully apprehended the guitarist, intending to execute him for his perceived defiance. Jay, determined to save his friend, devised a scheme. He planned to perform a widely acclaimed song at the Mos Espa Grand Arena, hoping to sway Jabba's decision and prevent the execution.
As a Force-sensitive human male, Jee Ken Tsokee trained as a Padawan within the Jedi Order. When the Clone Wars erupted between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems at the start, Tsokee was appointed as a Jedi Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. In 19 BBY, Tsokee participated in a battle involving Republic forces against the Separatist Droid Army. When Order 66 was issued, instructing all clone troopers to murder the Jedi they served, Jay escaped the battle's devastation, clutching his lightsaber. He then stumbled upon a vehicle carrying a Hutt named Geezer Odajion. The Hutt inquired about the Padawan's identity, and Jay noticed the musical instruments and equipment used by musicians and bands inside the vehicle.
Jay then took the role of lead singer of Star Waver, the band led by Odajion. The band consisted of Odajion, who played the flaming rumble bass guitar; Lan Ar-Shoo, a being with three torsos who played the versatile cluster drums; K-344 "Kurti," a droid who played electrified dual guitars; and V-5, a droid who mixed electronic sounds for their music. Throughout this period, Jay kept his lightsaber.
During the Imperial Era, Jabba the Hutt offered a bounty for Odajion because he refused to join Jabba's criminal enterprise. While Star Waver was performing "Galactic Dreamer" at a concert, a group of bounty hunters headed by Boba Fett disrupted the show to collect the bounty. Jay tried to de-escalate the situation and continue the band's performance. Fett ordered the Hutt to come with him to be delivered to Jabba and warned Odajion that resistance would result in the disintegration of his friends. Odajion responded casually before using the flamethrower feature of his flaming rumble bass to attack Fett, which initiated a fight between the band and the bounty hunters.
The members of Star Waver attempted to retreat to their starship, The Rolling Gales. The band members used their instruments as weapons to fight Fett and his allies, covering their retreat. A Nikto member of Fett's team tackled Jay, who tried to draw his lightsaber for defense. However, the Nikto pulled out a blaster pistol on Jay until the band's droid V-5 pushed the Nikto away. After Star Waver escaped to their ship, Fett chased them in his ship, Slave I, and shot down The Rolling Gales. Fett then took Odajion to Jabba at gunpoint, where Odajion was to be executed for his perceived offenses.
Jay was devastated to see his friend taken by a bounty hunter after all they had experienced together. The former Padawan grabbed his lightsaber and rushed out of The Rolling Gales to rescue Odajion from Fett. Jay trembled with fear, trying to activate his lightsaber to attack Fett. However, the lightsaber only emitted electrical sparks, distressing Jay. Fett took Odajion away as Jay retreated to the ship, where V-5 played a recording of Star Waver's first rehearsal. Jay ran out of the ship, lamenting that Star Waver was just a band. At that moment, Jay conceived a plan to rescue Odajion from execution.
Jay, Kurti, Ar-Shoo, and V-5 made an agreement with Jabba to perform one song with Odajion before his execution at the Mos Espa Grand Arena on the desert planet of Tatooine. The band members greeted the Hutt guitarist, who was being held in stuncuffs by Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt's majordomo. After Fortuna released him from the cuffs, Odajion asked why his friends were there. Jay and Ar-Shoo explained that the band had made a deal with Jabba to perform one last song before Odajion's execution. Star Waver would perform for a packed audience at the arena, including Jabba himself, making it their biggest audience to date. Jay asked Odajion if he would perform. The Hutt agreed, and Jay gave him his flaming rumble bass guitar.
As guards, including Gamorreans, escorted the band to the stage, one Gamorrean guard heard Jay's lightsaber and stopped him before he could join the others. The former Jedi told the guard to calm down, as his former weapon was now just a microphone. The guard then allowed Jay to join his bandmates in front of the crowd.
The band played "Galactic Dreamer," which was recorded by Hologlide J57 cam droids and broadcast throughout Tatooine. The crowd cheered, wanting an encore, and even Jabba and his entourage reacted positively. Jay boldly offered Jabba a deal, saying that Star Waver would become the most popular band in the galaxy and giving him the chance to be their first investor. The crowd's cheers convinced the Hutt crime lord to allow the band an encore instead of executing Odajion. The Hutt guitarist, Jay, and K-344 smiled upon hearing that Odajion would live.
Jay was a male human with fair skin and gray eyes. During the Clone Wars, he had brown hair. Later, as Star Waver's lead singer, Jay grew his hair longer and shaggy, changing its color to blue-gray.
As a Padawan, Jay fled a Clone Wars battle out of fear. After Odajion took him in and he joined Star Waver, Jay became close friends with the Hutt and the other band members. During his time with Star Waver, Jay remained more fearful of combat than his bandmates. When Boba Fett came to capture Odajion, the Hutt guitarist, Ar-Shoo, and K-344 quickly engaged Fett's crew, skillfully using their instruments as weapons. In contrast, Jay hesitated to draw his lightsaber against the attackers, trembling with fear.
Despite his fear of fighting, Jay was willing to defend his friends. When Boba Fett took Odajion to Slave I, Jay confronted the bounty hunter with his lightsaber. Jay trembled in the rain, afraid to fight Boba, but still tried to activate his Jedi weapon to defend Odajion. When his saber failed to activate, Jay became solemn and distraught. However, after reflecting on his friendship with Odajion, the singer devised a plan to negotiate with Jabba to save his friend's life. Jay appealed to Jabba's desire for money and power, ultimately saving Odajion by convincing the crime lord that Star Waver would be more profitable with all its members alive.
As a Jedi Order member, Jay was Force-sensitive. Jay used the Force to jump high during his performance at the Mos Espa Grand Arena. He was also a talented singer and guitarist, with enough charisma to energize a crowd. Jay used his ability to entertain and excite his audience to convince Jabba the Hutt not to execute Odajion.
Jay could wield a lightsaber as a weapon, and K-344 found him helpful in performing repairs on The Rolling Gales.
As a Padawan, Jay carried a blue-bladed lightsaber during the Clone Wars. His lightsaber was damaged when he fell into Odajion's vehicle, after which he used it as a microphone. Jay tried to fight off Boba Fett with his lightsaber when Fett kidnapped Odajion, but his saber only produced electrical sparks instead of activating its plasma blade, preventing Jay from rescuing his friend that way. Later at the Mos Espa Grand Arena, some of Jabba's Gamorrean guards mistook Jay's lightsaber for a working weapon, leading the singer to assure them that it was just a microphone.
Jay was created for "Tatooine Rhapsody," a short film in the Star Wars: Visions series. Yasumi Atarashi wrote the film, and Taku Kimura of Studio Colorido directed it. It was released on Disney+ on September 22, 2021. The character was first shown in a trailer on the official Star Wars YouTube channel on August 17, 2021, and was identified as Jay in a post on StarWars.com that same day.
Hiroyuki Yoshino voiced Jay in Japanese, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt voiced him in the English dub. In an interview for Disney+, Kimura said he was inspired to create Jay and Odajion to show the power of music. Although Odajion was a Hutt, he didn't want to be a crime lord; he loved his music and had the strength to leave his family. Similarly, Jay breaks free from his Jedi past, wanting to "rock together" with his Hutt friend. Kimura recognized that music is important to Star Wars and wanted to change the genre to rock and roll while staying true to the series' theme and values. His studio wanted to convey the message of doing what you want and not being stuck in the past; both Jay and Odajion escape their pasts to build a better future together.
To Gordon-Levitt, creativity means finding a centered place in oneself where you feel powerful by creating something. Jay has such moments in the short film, and Gordon-Levitt loved voicing Jay as a character with the combination of music, creativity, and the Force. Lucasfilm executive producer Josh Rimes believes Star Waver exemplifies Star Wars' core theme of a "found family."
The original soundtrack for "Tatooine Rhapsody," released digitally on October 15, 2021, identified the song that played during Jay's Clone Wars battle as "Order 66," confirming that Jay was running from his own clone troopers.