Biography
During the 1990s, when global listeners rediscovered Chicago house, Curtis A. Jones emerged as a central figure driving that revival. Operating under his Cajmere moniker for straightforward house productions and adopting the Green Velvet persona—an acid-house character distinguished by flamboyant style and neon hair—he delivered several landmark underground tracks of the era, among them “Preacher Man,” “Answering Machine,” “Brighter Days,” and “Flash.” He simultaneously operated Cajual and Relief, the era’s two most influential artist-run imprints in the resurgent Chicago scene. While artist-owned labels had become standard in Detroit, such ventures remained uncommon in Chicago, where the dominant 1980s houses Trax and DJ International had routinely withheld royalties from their rosters. Through these outlets Jones corrected that imbalance, issuing material from a wide range of producers that included both veterans and newcomers such as DJ Sneak, Glenn Underground, Paul Johnson, Gemini, Tim Harper, and Boo Williams.
A native Chicagoan, Jones first immersed himself in club culture and record collecting while enrolled at the University of Illinois. He completed a chemical-engineering degree and pursued graduate studies at UC-Berkeley before returning home in 1991 intent on producing and performing locally. His debut release, issued in 1992 on Clubhouse Records under the Cajmere name, was the track “Coffee Pot (It’s Time for the Percolator).” That same year he produced Lidell Townsell’s “Get With U” and began collaborating with Chicago vocalist Dajae. Their initial single, “Brighter Days,” prompted Jones to establish Cajual Records for its release; the record climbed to number two on the dance charts and achieved international success by revisiting the energetic templates of the prior decade while introducing denser rhythms, prominent low-end synth lines, and contemporary programming.
Further Dajae pairings on Cajual—“U Got Me Up” and “Day by Day”—followed, and in 1994 Jones launched the Relief label. Seeking greater theatricality within house performance, he introduced the Green Velvet alias for live appearances and DJ sets. Presented as a digital-era counterpart to Bootsy Collins and noted for sharp fashion sensibilities, Green Velvet scored club-chart successes between 1995 and 1997 with the anthems “Flash,” “The Stalker,” and “Answering Machine.” Although neither Cajmere nor Green Velvet issued full-length albums during this period, the compilations The Many Shades of Cajual, A Taste of Cajual, and Relief: The Future Sound of Chicago gathered the strongest work from both projects.
A native Chicagoan, Jones first immersed himself in club culture and record collecting while enrolled at the University of Illinois. He completed a chemical-engineering degree and pursued graduate studies at UC-Berkeley before returning home in 1991 intent on producing and performing locally. His debut release, issued in 1992 on Clubhouse Records under the Cajmere name, was the track “Coffee Pot (It’s Time for the Percolator).” That same year he produced Lidell Townsell’s “Get With U” and began collaborating with Chicago vocalist Dajae. Their initial single, “Brighter Days,” prompted Jones to establish Cajual Records for its release; the record climbed to number two on the dance charts and achieved international success by revisiting the energetic templates of the prior decade while introducing denser rhythms, prominent low-end synth lines, and contemporary programming.
Further Dajae pairings on Cajual—“U Got Me Up” and “Day by Day”—followed, and in 1994 Jones launched the Relief label. Seeking greater theatricality within house performance, he introduced the Green Velvet alias for live appearances and DJ sets. Presented as a digital-era counterpart to Bootsy Collins and noted for sharp fashion sensibilities, Green Velvet scored club-chart successes between 1995 and 1997 with the anthems “Flash,” “The Stalker,” and “Answering Machine.” Although neither Cajmere nor Green Velvet issued full-length albums during this period, the compilations The Many Shades of Cajual, A Taste of Cajual, and Relief: The Future Sound of Chicago gathered the strongest work from both projects.
Albums
Singles
