Biography
Born around 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, Jones reportedly took up guitar and started composing songs by age four, already steeped in the blues through family ties. His older brother performed the music professionally, while cousin Lefty Dizz played guitar at that level as well. Exposure via the latter introduced Jones to numerous blues figures, from whom he absorbed techniques, ideas, and a lasting commitment to the genre’s history. He enrolled at the University of Illinois, Chicago, co-producing blues concerts on campus before earning his degree in 1987.
From that point he built a career spanning multiple performance disciplines. In addition to club and festival appearances as singer and guitarist, he became a regular presence on television. He also works as an author and educator. His 1989 memoir later received a stage adaptation, while his teaching includes extensive lectures and, in the early 2000s, a faculty role at Columbia College developing a blues curriculum. He founded Blues Kids of America to broaden public grasp of the blues’ cultural weight and meaning.
Jones’s study of the music’s beginnings has not confined him to earlier eras. He has argued publicly for ongoing growth within the form and kept writing new material, so that recent sets draw almost exclusively from his own songs. Transforming the memoir into the musical play I Was There When The Blues Was Red Hot! kept the narrative historically faithful while introducing original compositions. Mounted in Chicago, the production drew strong praise from audiences and critics alike, resulting in a Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination.
From that point he built a career spanning multiple performance disciplines. In addition to club and festival appearances as singer and guitarist, he became a regular presence on television. He also works as an author and educator. His 1989 memoir later received a stage adaptation, while his teaching includes extensive lectures and, in the early 2000s, a faculty role at Columbia College developing a blues curriculum. He founded Blues Kids of America to broaden public grasp of the blues’ cultural weight and meaning.
Jones’s study of the music’s beginnings has not confined him to earlier eras. He has argued publicly for ongoing growth within the form and kept writing new material, so that recent sets draw almost exclusively from his own songs. Transforming the memoir into the musical play I Was There When The Blues Was Red Hot! kept the narrative historically faithful while introducing original compositions. Mounted in Chicago, the production drew strong praise from audiences and critics alike, resulting in a Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination.
Albums
