Lloyd Jones is a consummate guitarist/singer/songwriter/arranger/performer/
bandleader. One of the most original artists on the modern day blues scene,
Jones is, in the words of Blues Revue, "certainly worthy of greater
recognition." The release of his first recording for Blind Pig Records, Love
Gotcha, should bring him the national and international acclamation he
deserves.
Jones was born in Seattle into a musical family, which moved to Portland
soon afterward. "I remember music was everywhere in our house growing up. My
dad was playing Dixieland jazz records and trying to teach me to play
trumpet when I was only five years old. My older brother played drums and
showed me how. Then he took me to his band rehearsals and had me playing
gigs when I was just 13. He took me to see James Brown in '64. You've got to
imagine James in '64 - ouch! Then B.B. King, Buddy Guy, even Sonny Terry and
Brownie McGhee - all this before I was out of high school. I was underage
and totally mesmerized"
Jones got deep into the blues and was the leader of Portland's most popular
blues bands, Brown Sugar, in the early 70's. "We got to work with touring
musicians in those days, like Charlie Musselwhite, George "Harmonica" Smith,
the Johnny Otis show, Big Mama Thornton and Big Walter Horton. That's how we
learned, and that's really when I first picked up the guitar. A lot of times
these people would stay at our homes and teach us music and history. Some of
them have passed now, so I cherish those memories. S.P. Leary, who was in
Muddy Waters band and was playing drums with Big Walter at the time, leaned
over to me as he was leaving town and said, "Man, I'm getting old. You gotta
keep it alive. It's a struggle sometimes, but if you love it, you keep on
struggling."'
Through the years Jones would continue to hone his craft by performing with
the likes of Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, B.B.
King, Dr. John, John Hammond, Etta James, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, and
many more music legends.
In the 80's Jones joined forces with ex-Robert Cray singer/harp player
Curtis Salgado in a band called In Yo' Face. "That was one fun band! Seemed
like we all had the same record collection. Curtis really pushed me as a
guitar player, and when he left in '85 to join Roomful of Blues I knew it
was time to play my music." Jones knew what he wanted to say and how he
wanted to say it. The Lloyd Jones Struggle started in 1985 as a vehicle for
his songwriting. "I love a good story. Most of the traditional blues stayed
with a shuffle or slow blues. Being a drummer I keep hearing the rhythm of
the words all broke down funky and swamp-afied; nice and relaxed but kind of
turned inside out."
Jones made two recordings in the late 80's for Criminal Records: The Lloyd
Jones Struggle (1987) and Small Potatoes (1989). They won over a dozen local
music awards, as well as acclaim from national music publications such as
Down Beat and Guitar Player, which in turn led to some extensive touring for
the band on the Miller Beer Sponsorship Program. In 1993 Jones released his
third album, Lloyd `Have Mercy' Jones - Live! on the Burnside Records label.
In 1995 Lloyd Jones recorded a highly acclaimed album for the Audio Quest
label, entitled Trouble Monkey. Blues Revue named it, "not only one of the
best albums of 1995, it is one of the best albums of the 1990's," while
Robert Cray called it "the best damn record I've heard in a long time!"
Vintage Guitar Magazine said, "Jones offers vocals that would make Sam and
Dave smile and guitar work Steve Cropper would be proud of" and referred to
his affecting vocals as "gritty as a dirt road and smooth as melting
butter." Lloyd's songwriting was starting to be noticed as well, with Joe
Louis Walker and Gatemouth Brown covering two of his compositions.
Jones and his band have become a mainstay on the West Coast circuit, and
have brought their tasteful, crowd-pleasing brand of music from New Orleans
to Canada to the Caribbean, where Delbert McClinton witnessed a performance
and remarked, "When I heard Lloyd Jones live for the first time in January
1999, it was like exhaling after holding my breath for fifteen years." It
was such a typically memorable set at the Santa Cruz Blues Festival that led
to Jones' signing by Blind Pig Records.
Jones describes his soulful and intelligent fusion of funk, blues, and R&B
as "storytelling with a Memphis groove." His latest CD, Love Gotcha,
presents Lloyd's writing at its trenchant best. His songs have the quality
that makes them sound as if they have been around as blues standards for
years or they seem to have fallen out of some time warp from the golden days
of R&B. His approach to the guitar is both economical and rhythmically
sophisticated, with a style that can be as delicate as it is devastating.
And Jones' accomplished guitar and vocal work are complemented throughout
the recording by some of the funkiest horn-rhythm-organ arrangements around.
Blues lovers everywhere are about to discover what Lloyd Jones' fans already
know - one taste of his beguiling music and you're captivated. Lloyd's
gotcha! Source Web site;
http://www.lloydjonesmusic.com/more.html
Blind Pig Records
A division of Whole Hog, Inc.
PO. Box 2344, San Francisco, CA 94126
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www.blindpigrecords.com
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