Jontavious Willis

Last updated

Jontavious Willis
JontaviousWillis-CBF-Spring23.jpg
Jontavious Willis at Chicago Blues Festival in 2023
Background information
Born1996 (age 27–28)
Greenville, Georgia, United States
Genres Country blues
Occupation(s)Singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo
Years active2014–present
Website jontaviouswillis.com

Jontavious Willis (born 1996) [1] is an American country blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Willis has released two albums to date, with his sophomore effort, Spectacular Class, debuting at number 12 in the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in May 2019.

Contents

He has been mentored through his early career by Keb' Mo', and Taj Mahal.

Biography

Jontavious Willis was born in Greenville, Georgia, United States. He grew up singing gospel music, alongside his grandfather, at his local Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. At the age of 14, Willis watched an online video of Muddy Waters performing "Hoochie Coochie Man" and was drawn towards blues music. [2] He learned to play many styles of country blues including Delta, Piedmont, and Texas, eventually becoming adept on the guitar as a fingerpicker, flatpicker and slide player. He developed further in his teens towards an autodidactic multi-instrumentalist. In addition to the guitar, Willis taught himself to play the harmonica and five string banjo. [1] He studied at Columbus State University, majoring in sociology and anthropology. [1]

His playing progressed and he was given a big opportunity in 2015 when Taj Mahal invited Willis onto the stage to perform. [1] Taj Mahal stated afterwards, "That's my Wonderboy, the Wunderkind". [3] The exposure led to appearances at music festivals and Willis self released his debut album, Blue Metamorphosis, in April 2017. [1] [4] Blue Metamorphosis got favorable reviews from both Living Blues and Blues & Rhythm magazines. [5] Paul Oscher stated "When I heard him play I said to myself: this is how the blues, as I know it, is going to stay alive." [3] In 2018, the album earned recognition from the Blues Foundation through the International Blues Challenge, where it received the 'Best Self-Produced CD Award'. [2]

In 2017, Keb' Mo' had partnered up with Taj Mahal to release a joint album, TajMo . [6] It won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. [7] On the resulting promotional tour, Willis played as the support act for the two seasoned blues men on several dates. [2] [8]

On April 5, 2019, Willis released his follow up album, Spectacular Class. [8] The album was issued on Kind of Blue Music. [9] Taj Mahal was credited as executive producer and Keb' Mo' as producer. [2] The collection contained ten sides with the lyrical content all penned by Willis. He provided vocals and acoustic guitar (fingerpicker/flatpicker/slide) with Keb' Mo' on electric guitar, Eric Ramey on bass, Phil Madeira on keyboards, plus Martin Lynds and Thaddeus Witherspoon on drums. [9] Spectacular Class debuted at number 12 in the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in May 2019, and was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. [10]

Tour dates for 2019 and beyond include concerts in the US, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and Puerto Rico. [3]

Discography

Albums

YearTitleRecord label
2017Blue MetamorphosisSelf released
2019Spectacular ClassKind of Blue Music
2024West Georgia BluesStrolling Bones Records

[11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ry Cooder</span> American musician (born 1947)

Ryland Peter Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taj Mahal (musician)</span> American blues musician (born 1942)

Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr., better known by his stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician. He plays the guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, and many other instruments, often incorporating elements of world music into his work. Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, India, Hawaii, and the South Pacific.

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album was awarded from 1988 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Contemporary Blues Performance and in 1989 was awarded to a song rather than to an album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keb' Mo'</span> American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter

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.

John Porter is an English musician and record producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cotton</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1935–2017)

James Henry Cotton was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.

The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards, are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, "Father of the Blues". The first award was presented in 1980 and is "universally recognized as the highest accolade afforded musicians and songwriters in blues music". In 2006, the awards were renamed Blues Music Awards in an effort to increase public appreciation of the significance of the awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Ricci</span> American harmonica player and singer (born 1974)

Jason Ricci is an American harmonica player and singer. In addition to his solo albums, Ricci has appeared as a guest harmonica player on albums with Johnny Winter, Terence Blanchard, Nick Curran, Ana Popović, Walter Trout, Cedric Burnside, The Mannish Boys and Joe Louis Walker among others. Ricci was named "Best Harmonica Player" at the 2010 Blues Music Awards, and also performed on Grammy winning 2014 Johnny Winter album Step Back. In February 2015, Ricci played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Shaffer Band, Tom Morello and Zac Brown to induct The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Ricci also continues touring with his band Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind as well as with other bands such as: "Harmonicon", "JJ Appleton and Jason Ricci" and "Mark Hummel's Harmonica Blowout". In 2017, Jason Ricci and The Bad Kind signed a record deal with the Eller Soul label and released their new album Approved By Snakes released on June 16, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Bibb</span> American singer-songwriter

Eric Charles Bibb is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Branch</span> American Chicago blues musician

Billy Branch is an American blues harmonica player and singer of Chicago blues. Branch is a three-time Grammy nominee, a retired two-term governor of the Chicago Grammy Chapter, an Emmy Award winner, and a winner of the Addy Award. In addition, he has received numerous humanitarian and music awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Cleary (musician)</span> British-born R&B and funk musician

Jon Cleary is a British-born, American funk and R&B musician, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Cleary is an accomplished pianist as well as being a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter.

Darrell Leonard is an American, Los Angeles–based, trumpet player, composer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny Freeman</span> American guitarist (1944–2021)

Dennis Edward Freeman was an American Texas and electric blues guitarist. Although he is primarily known as a guitar player, Freeman also played piano and electronic organ, both in concert and on various recordings. He worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Bob Dylan, Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton, James Cotton, Taj Mahal, Barry Goldberg and Percy Sledge amongst others.

Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, composer and producer. He is best known as a session drummer and/or percussionist of over 200 albums including those of Otis Rush, Eric Burdon, Johnny Nash, Coco Montoya, Lucky Peterson, as well as Grammy winning albums of Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy (percussion) and for performing live with dozens of music icons including Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, and Taj Mahal to name just a few.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Estrin & The Nightcats</span> American electric blues band

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats are an American electric blues band formed in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Fish</span> American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter

Samantha Fish is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri. While often cited as a blues artist, Fish's work features and draws from multiple genres, including rock, country, funk, bluegrass, and ballads.

<i>TajMo</i> 2017 studio album by Taj Mahal and Keb Mo

TajMo is a joint album by the American blues musicians Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo'. It was released May 5, 2017, and won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. TajMo is the twenty-sixth studio album by Taj Mahal and the thirteenth by Keb' Mo'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monster Mike Welch</span> American blues guitarist and singer

Monster Mike Welch is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

<i>Oklahoma</i> (Keb Mo album) 2019 studio album by Keb Mo

Oklahoma is the fourteenth studio album by American musician Keb' Mo' and was released on June 14, 2019 by Concord Records label. The album featured guest contributions from Rosanne Cash, Jaci Velasquez, Robert Randolph, Taj Mahal and a duet with Robbie Brooks Moore. The album also produced two singles: "Put a Woman in Charge" released on September 28, 2018, and "Don't Throw it Away" released on June 12, 2019. The album was produced by Colin Linden and co-produced by Keb’ Mo’.

Michael "Mudcat" Ward is an American blues bassist, pianist and songwriter. Primarily he plays both the double bass and bass guitar, although he has recorded tracks playing the piano. Ward has been a member of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones for over 40 years and has had concurrent spells with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. Ward has gained two Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation, Memphis, TN in his own name, and has participated in the recording of over 60 albums.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jontavious Willis – The Third Day of the Devil's Music". Feelingoverdose-com.webnode.es. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bio". Jontaviouswillis.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Jontavious Willis". Thekurlandagency.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ Halligan, Katie (February 13, 2019). "BLUES | Jontavious Willis". Rochestercitynewspaper.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Jontavious Willis". Iheg.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  6. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "TajMo – Taj Mahal / Keb' Mo'". AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Keb'Mo'". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. November 28, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Jontavious Willis". Axs.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Ehrenclou, Martine (April 3, 2019). "Review: 'Spectacular Class' by Acoustic Bluesman, Jontavious Willis". Rockandbluesmuse.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  10. ↑ "2020 Grammy Awards". Grammy.com. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Jontavious Willis | Album Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved July 23, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.