JW-Jones | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | July 15, 1980
Genres | Blues, jump blues, rock and roll, swing revival, soul, roots |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals, drums |
Years active | 1998–present |
Website | jw-jones.com |
JW-Jones (born July 15, 1980) is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He is a Juno Award nominee (2015), Billboard magazine Top 10 Selling [1] artist, and winner of the International Blues Challenge for "Best Self-Produced CD Award" for his release 'High Temperature' in 2017 and Best Guitarist in 2020.
Jones' first recording contract was signed with CrossCut Records (Germany) in 2000, who released his first seven CDs in Europe. He was the first artist signed to the NorthernBlues Music label in Toronto and released his first six recordings with the label. Jones has also worked with Ruf Records in the USA, and Blind Pig Records. He has released nine studio albums and one live album. He has played in 23 countries on four continents and continues to tour extensively. Jones, who lives in Ottawa, Ontario, has performed at blues festivals, theatres and clubs in Canada, the USA, Europe, United Kingdom, Russia, Australia and Brazil.
On June 19, 2014, Jones was presented with a Forty Under 40 Award by Ottawa Business Journal/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. It is a celebration of entrepreneurship in Ottawa - a "salute to the region’s young business stars who balance business achievement, professional expertise and community involvement." [2]
In May 2009, Jones' song "Parasomnia" appeared on a Guitar World featured CD, Guitar Masters Vol. 2, among B.B. King, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana. The Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail referred to Jones as "one of this country's top blues guitar stars". The US Blues Revue magazine' stated that "Jones' style is a fluid amalgam of T-Bone Walker's big, bright chords, Johnny "Guitar" Watson's slashing leads, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's jazzy sting".[ citation needed ] Billboard called Jones part of "a new wave of young talent moving onto Canada’s blues stage." [3]
Charlie Musselwhite stated, "JW Jones is one of the best guitar players I’ve heard in a long time. He and his band do great tunes with cool arrangements and I love listening to them. They play with taste and fire at the same time." The guitarist Little Charlie Baty has said, "JW is one of the young guns in the blues guitar world who consistently delivers the goods on record and on stage - and of course I'm gonna dig anybody who writes a tune called 'Batyology'!" (an instrumental that Jones wrote in homage to Baty). The Canadian-born Hollywood actor Dan Aykroyd, who is also known for his Blues Brothers persona "Elwood Blues" has called the group an "amazing blues band". [4]
Chuck Leavell, a member of the Rolling Stones, wrote "His evolution as a musician and vocalist shine through on this record like never before. Real songs, real playing by real people, and JW is the real deal" in the liner notes for the JW-Jones release 'High Temperature'.
Jones started as a drummer and was invited to sit in with Mississippi blues artist Big Jack Johnson, New Orleans artist Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, and Ottawa musician Tony D. among others.
As a guitarist and singer, Jones, who attended Ridgemont High School in Ottawa, Ontario, won the 1998 R&R Concerts "Battle of the Bands", at the age of eighteen. The prize package included studio time that was used to record a six song demo that was later reviewed by Blues Revue. The next year, Jones won the 1999 Ottawa Blues Guitar Riff-Off competition. The prize package included studio time that was used to record his first album, Defibrillatin (SBR001-2000 / NBM0001-2001). The album included Steve Marriner, a then-high-school-age Ottawa blues harp player. AllMusic states that the "Keyboardist [Pierre] Chretien [on organ and piano] is credited with bringing a jazz influence to Jones' and the band's sound" during that time period. [5] The CD liner notes say that Steve Hiscox played drums on the album and Nathan Morris played upright bass. Morris played on several subsequent albums and played and toured with the band. On subsequent albums, Morris is also credited for electric bass.
In the 2000s, Jones was invited to perform on stage with a number of blues bands and artists, including The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Junior Watson, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Rusty Zinn, Rick Holmstrom, Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets, The Mannish Boys and Hubert Sumlin. Jones' second album was Bogart's Bounce, which included performances by the singer and blues "harp" player Kim Wilson (from The Fabulous Thunderbirds) and the pianist Gene Taylor (from The Blasters).
His third album with his band, My Kind of Evil (2004), was produced by the multi-Grammy nominee Kim Wilson (singer for The Fabulous Thunderbirds), and includes vocals by the Canadian singer/guitarist Colin James on two tracks, and Roxanne Potvin on another. Songs from the album have been played on the internationally syndicated House of Blues Radio Hour. The music reviewer Brad Wheeler from Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper praised the "graceful ability he (Jones) shows on guitar" in the album. [6] Wheeler wrote, "...the Ottawa player makes retro moves, layering swinging blues with keyboards and very noticeable horns that never dominate the fine-lined fills and lead work." The Allmusic review of My Kind of Evil, by Chris Nickson, says, "He's very good on covers, such as "I Don't Know," but his own songs — the vast majority of this disc — have plenty of life." [7]
In 2006, Jones released his fourth album, Kissing in 29 Days, which included performances by David "Fathead" Newman on tenor saxophone. Newman was the main saxophone player with Ray Charles for 12 years. In Blues Revue magazine, Bret Kofford wrote, "JW-Jones is highly regarded in blues circles." [8]
On May 13, 2008, the fifth album, Bluelisted went on sale. The recording includes special guests Little Charlie Baty (leader of the band Little Charlie & the Nightcats, which records on Alligator Records), Junior Watson, Richard Innes and Larry Taylor. The liner notes are written by Dan Aykroyd.
On May 6, 2009, Hubert Sumlin (then 77), a blues guitarist who worked with Howlin' Wolf for more than 20 years and was named in the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, recorded with JW-Jones at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The rhythm section was Richard Innes and Larry Taylor (who appear on Bluelisted).
Midnight Memphis Sun (NorthernBlues/CrossCut/Ruf) was released on August 10, 2010. In April 2011, Jones signed an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars. Jones' seventh album, Seventh Hour, released on March 27, 2012, reached #1 on B.B. King's Bluesville on XM Sirius Satellite Radio, and led the band to performing at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in February 2013, and opening for B.B. King at the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest on July 14, 2013.
Jones was asked to co-host the Maple Blues Awards in Toronto on January 20, 2014, which took place mid-way through a tour with Johnny Winter. Jones opened for Jimmie Vaughan in May that year.
On June 19, 2014, Jones was presented with a Forty Under 40 Award by Ottawa Business Journal/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. It is the biggest and best celebration of entrepreneurship in Ottawa, a salute to the region’s young business stars who balance business achievement, professional expertise and community involvement. [2]
"Belmont Boulevard" was released on October 14 and is Jones's first release for the American blues label Blind Pig Records, recorded in Nashville with the Grammy Award winning producer Tom Hambridge. It debuted at #9 on Billboard's Blues Charts on November 8, 2014. [1] The disc was released in Canada on October 7, distributed by Stony Plain Records. It debuted and held the #1 position on Roots Music Report, the radio air-play chart, in Canada for thirteen weeks between October 2014 and February 2015. [9] The album was nominated as Blues Album of the Year at the Juno Awards and Recording of the Year at Maple Blues Awards, and Jones was nominated for Guitarist of the Year.
After Buddy Guy sang with JW-Jones at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago, Illinois, on April 14, 2015, he asked Jones to play guitar with him during two sold-out shows at Centrepointe Theatre in Ottawa on April 27 and 28, 2015. Guy joined the band for the fourth time in seven months, at his club on November 15, 2015.
On July 17, 2015, Canned Heat invited Jones to perform during their set at Ottawa Bluesfest in Ottawa, and on September 12, 2015, invited Jones to perform during their set at Southside Shuffle Jazz & Blues Festival in Mississauga, Ontario,
In Mar/Apr 2016, Jones performed in England, Scotland, and Wales, on his first UK Tour.
On September 6, Guy sang with JW-Jones at Buddy Guy's Legends, the fifth time they have performed together on stage. Later that month, Jones performed two shows in Argentina, the 23rd country in which he has performed.
Jones' ninth record, High Temperature, produced in Nashville by Colin Linden with liner notes written by Chuck Leavell, a touring musician with The Rolling Stones, was released on October 28, 2016.
In November, JW-Jones' ninth release, High Temperature was named the "Hot Shot Debut" landing at No. 8 on the Billboard Top 10. [10] On February 4, 2017, High Temperature won "Best Self-Produced CD Award" in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge, representing the Ottawa Blues Society. It was selected as a top 5 finalist a month earlier out of over 90 entries from worldwide blues societies.
Chad Smith, drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers made a guest appearance with Jones at Blues On Whyte in Edmonton, Alberta, on May 27, 2017. The appearance led to radio interviews with Edmonton's Sonic 1029 and The Ryan Jespersen Show (Global News - 630 CHED)
On November 12, 2017, Buddy Guy sang with JW-Jones at Buddy Guy's Legends, and told him "I love the way you play, man" during the appearance. This was the sixth time they have performed together on stage.
'High Temperature' was nominated for Recording/Producer of the Year at Maple Blues Awards with Colin Linden, and Jones' longtime bassist, Laura Greenberg was nominated for Bass Player of the Year.
Jones released his tenth album, and first live album, entitled LIVE on September 28, 2018.
JW-Jones competed with HOROJO Trio representing the Ottawa Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge, an annual event by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee where the band took first place in the band category. Jones also won 'Best Guitarist" honours.
On August 14, 2020, Jones released his 11th album "Sonic Departures" which was partially recorded during COVID-19 lockdown and features a 13 piece horn section. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Blues charts [11] and is nominated for Recording/Producer of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards happening in February 2021. [12]
On February 1, 2021, Jones won Best Jazz/Blues Artist at the Ottawa Awards. [13]
In February 2022, Jones won Best Jazz/Blues Artist at the Ottawa Awards for the second year in a row.
On August 15, 2022, Jimmie Vaughan recorded with Jones, produced by Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar) in Austin, Texas.
In February 2023, Jones won Best Jazz/Blues Artist at the Ottawa Awards for the third year in a row.
Jones has appeared in various acting roles on television; Bar Rescue (Spike TV) - season 3, episode 20, and commercials; Vinci tablet, Metropolitan Restaurant (Ottawa, Canada). He has done modelling for Indochino Suits and the high-tech company, Unify.[ citation needed ]
Year | Association | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | R&R Concerts | Battle of the Bands | Won |
1999 | Blues Guitar Riff-Off | Best Blues Guitarist | Won |
2000 | Maple Blues Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated |
2001 | Maple Blues Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated |
2002 | Maple Blues Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated |
2004 | Canadian Independent Music Awards | Favourite Blues Artist/Group | Nominated |
Maple Blues Awards | Electric Act of the Year | Won | |
Recording of the Year - My Kind of Evil | Nominated | ||
Guitar Player of the Year | Nominated | ||
Producer of the Year (with Kim Wilson) | Nominated | ||
2006 | Maple Blues Awards | Recording of the Year - Kissing in 29 Days | Nominated |
2008 | XPress Newspaper Awards - Ottawa | Recording of the Year | Nominated |
House of Blues Radio Hour | Blues Mobile Award - Recording of the Year | Nominated | |
Maple Blues Awards | Recording of the Year - Bluelisted | Nominated | |
Guitar Player of the Year | Nominated | ||
International Songwriting Contest | Song of the Year - "Looking the World Straight in the Eye" | Nominated | |
2009 | Blues 411 Awards | Best Male Vocalist | Won |
Guitarist of the Year | Nominated | ||
2010 | Maple Blues Awards | Recording of the Year - Midnight Memphis Sun | Nominated |
2012 | Maple Blues Awards | Electric Act of the Year | Nominated |
2013 | Wasser Prawda Awards | Recording of the Year - Seventh Hour | Nominated |
2014 | Blues 411 'Jimi' Awards | International Release of the Year - Belmont Boulevard | Nominated |
Forty Under 40 | Ottawa Business Journal / Chamber of Commerce | Won | |
Maple Blues Awards | Recording of the Year - Belmont Boulevard | Nominated | |
Maple Blues Awards | Guitarist of the Year | Nominated | |
2015 | Juno Award | Blues Album of the Year - Belmont Boulevard | Nominated |
2017 | International Blues Challenge | Best Self-Produced CD Award | Won |
2017 | Maple Blues Awards | Recording/Producer of the Year - High Temperature with Colin Linden | Nominated |
2018 | Maple Blues Awards | Electric Act of the Year | Nominated |
2019 | Independent Blues Awards | Live Album of the Year | Nominated |
2020 | International Blues Challenge | Best Guitarist | Won |
2020 | Maple Blues Awards | Recording/Producer of the Year - Sonic Departures with Eric Eggleston | Nominated |
Guitarist of the Year | Nominated | ||
Entertainer of the Year | Nominated | ||
Electric Act of the Year | Nominated | ||
New Artist of the Year (HOROJO Trio) | Nominated | ||
2021 | Ottawa Awards | Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year | Won |
2021 | Capital Music Awards | Artist of the Year | Nominated |
2021 | Independent Blues Awards | Best Blues Soul Artist | Nominated |
Best Blues Soul CD - Sonic Departures | Nominated | ||
Best Blues Soul Song - Blue Jean Jacket (Jones, Hambridge, Fleming) | Nominated | ||
2022 | Ottawa Awards | Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year | Won |
2023 | Ottawa Awards | Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year | Won |
Year | Title | Genre | Label | Guests / Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Defibrillatin | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | Pierre Chrétien was a band member for this recording |
2002 | Bogart's Bounce | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | Kim Wilson (harp, vocals), Gene Taylor (piano), Roxanne Potvin (vocals) |
2004 | My Kind of Evil | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | Colin James (vocals), Kim Wilson (harp, vocals, producer) |
2006 | Kissing in 29 Days | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | David "Fathead" Newman (saxophone) |
2008 | Bluelisted | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | Little Charlie Baty (guitar, harp), Junior Watson (guitar), Richard Innes (drums), Larry Taylor (bass)[ ambiguous ] Liner notes by Dan Aykroyd |
2010 | Midnight Memphis Sun | Blues | NorthernBlues Music | Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica), Richard Innes (drums), Larry Taylor (bass)[ ambiguous ] |
2012 | Seventh Hour | Blues | Solid Blues Records | Mixed by Steve Dawson at Black Hen Music |
2014 | Belmont Boulevard | Blues | Blind Pig Records | Produced by Tom Hambridge |
2016 | High Temperature | Blues | Solid Blues Records | Produced by Colin Linden |
2018 | LIVE | Blues | Solid Blues Records | Produced by JW-Jones and Zach Allen |
2020 | Sonic Departures | Blues | Solid Blues Records | Produced by JW-Jones and Eric Eggleston |
2023 | Everything Now | Blues | Solid Blues Records | Special Guests Jimmie Vaughan, Stanton Moore, Aaron Sterling, The Texas Horns, Rob McNelly, Production by Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar (band)) |
Daniel Edward Aykroyd is a Canadian and American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast members of Saturday Night Live.
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a session guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with blues harp virtuoso Junior Wells.
Jon Gordon Langseth Jr., known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy Award for Turn Around.
Kevin Roosevelt Moore, known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America." His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz, pop and country. The moniker "Keb Mo" was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a "street talk" abbreviation of his given name.
Jon Tiven is an American composer, guitarist, record producer, and music journalist. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriting of Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Otis Blackwell, Curtis Mayfield, and Van Morrison. He was also the co-founder of the Memphis power pop band Prix, as well as the bands The Yankees and The Jon Tiven Group.
Philip Sayce is a Welsh-born-American-Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, performer, and producer.
Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drums, songwriters and music producers. In many cases, blues artists take on multiple roles. For example, the Canadian blues artist Steve Marriner is a singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.
David Gogo, is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and bandleader who is currently signed to the independent Cordova Bay Records label. He was formerly signed to EMI Records. Between 1994 and 2024, he released 16 solo albums. As of 2014, his touring band includes a Hammond organ/piano player, an electric bass player and a drummer.
Little Charlie & the Nightcats was an American electric blues and swing revival combo, active from 1976-2008. Several members reformed as Rick Estrin & The Nightcats.
Roxanne Potvin is a bilingual French-English Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Gatineau, Quebec. Potvin has earned a Juno nomination, seven Maple Blues awards nominations, making appearances at the Montreal Jazz Festival and Ottawa Bluesfest, and has toured internationally,.
Steve Strongman is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has released several full length blues albums, Honey, Blues in Colour, Live at the BarnA Natural Fact, Let Me Prove it to You and No Time Like Now.
Drew Nelson is a Canadian blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. Nelson is particularly known for his slide guitar playing. He has been playing professionally for nearly fifty years.
Paul Nelson was an American, Grammy Award winning blues and rock guitarist, record producer and songwriter. He played and or recorded alongside artists such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and members of the Allman Brothers Band. He was the hand-picked guitarist to join Johnny Winter's band in 2010, performing on and producing several of Winter's albums, including the Grammy Award-nominated I'm a Blues Man, Roots, and Step Back, which won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album, debuted at number one on the Billboard chart for Blues Albums, and Independent Albums, and debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking the highest spot in Winter's career. Nelson was also a Blues Music Award recipient for Best Rock Blues Album, and was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the KBA award from the Blues Foundation. He received a Grammy nomination for his work as producer and performer on Joe Louis Walker's, Everybody Wants a Piece.
Thomas Jay Hambridge is an American rock, country, and blues, producer, songwriter, musician and vocalist. Hambridge has received two Grammy Awards, an ASCAP award, seven Grammy nominations, seven Boston Music Awards, and has been inducted into the Buffalo Hall of Fame. In December 2015, Hambridge was given the key to his hometown of Buffalo, New York with Mayor Byron Brown declaring December 28 "Tom Hambridge Day." Hambridge's songs have been recorded by several notable artists and have been featured in movie productions, commercials and television programs. He has been referred to as "The White Willie Dixon" by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi's "Secret Weapon".
Steve Marriner is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He first garnered attention in the Ottawa blues scene in his early teens as a prodigy blues harp (harmonica) player. He also plays baritone guitar, electric guitar, piano, Hammond organ, upright bass and electric bass. Since 2008, he has been the frontman, singer, one of two guitarists and harmonica player for the Canadian rock'n'roll-blues group MonkeyJunk. The band's album To Behold won the 2012 Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year.
Erja Lyytinen is a Finnish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter.
Matt O'Ree is an American blues-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter born and raised in Holmdel, New Jersey with his wife, Eryn Shewell-O'Ree. O'Ree is best known as the founder and front man for the Matt O'Ree Band which he formed in 1994. In 2015, Matt joined Bon Jovi as their touring rhythm guitar player next to Phil X. He joined just before the Bon Jovi Live! tour which began on September 11, 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium and continued throughout Asia with the final show on October 3, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel at Yarkon Park. This tour was in support of Bon Jovi's 2015 album Burning Bridges.
Donna Grantis is a Canadian guitarist, best known for performing and recording with Prince & 3rdeyegirl. On September 30, 2014, Prince and 3rdeyegirl released their debut album, Plectrumelectrum, which reached #1 on the Billboard Rock chart. The album's title track, "Plectrumelectrum", was originally written by Grantis and later arranged by Prince. Since 2013, Grantis has been a member of Prince's funk supergroup, The New Power Generation. On November 16, 2018, Grantis released two new songs, “Trashformer” and “Violetta,” featuring Hall of Fame Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, as a limited edition 7” via his vinyl label HockeyTalkter Records. The tracks appear on Grantis’ debut album, Diamonds & Dynamite, released March 22, 2019, via eOne Music. The album and lead track reached #1 on iTunes Canada for top jazz album and top jazz song.