Jon Cleary (musician)

This article is about the British-born musician. For the Australian writer, see Jon Cleary. For other uses, see John Cleary (disambiguation).

Jon Cleary
Cleary in 2008
Background information
Born	(1962-08-11) August 11, 1962 (age 62) Cranbrook, Kent, England
Genres	Funk, R&B, soul
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1980–present
Labels	FHQ, Single Lock, Basin Street, Virgin/Point Blank, Ace
Website	joncleary.com

Jon Cleary (born August 11, 1962)^[1] is a British-born, American funk and R&B musician, based in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[2] Cleary is an accomplished pianist as well as being a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter.^[3]

Cleary has performed with a number of prolific musicians including Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt,^[4] Taj Mahal,^[5] B.B. King,^[6] Ryan Adams,^[7] and Eric Burdon.^[8] Compositions by Cleary have been recorded by such notable musicians as Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, and John Scofield on his 2009 album Piety Street.^[9][10]

Cleary's current band is Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, who have released six albums.^[11] Their album Go Go Juice won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album in the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.^[12][13]

Early life

Cleary is originally from Cranbrook, Kent, in the south-east of England. He attended Colliers Green Primary School, Angley Secondary and then Cranbrook School.^[14] His father played guitar but it was his uncle, returning from trips to America bringing recordings of Professor Longhair and others, who inspired his love for R&B. Cleary's focus was always more on art and music and everything that goes with it, than academic pursuits, and he soon left schooling behind to develop a life in music.^[14][15]

Career

Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen

Jon Cleary, Cornell Williams (b) & A.J. Hall (dr) at INNtöne Jazzfestival, Austria 2016

Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen consist of Cleary on keyboard and vocals, Cornell C. Williams on bass and backup vocals, and A.J. Hall on drums. All of the band members, except for Cleary, were born in New Orleans. The Absolute Monster Gentlemen can swell to an 8-piece band, often including musicians like Nigel Hall on keyboards, Pedro Segundo on percussion, Xavier Lynn on guitar, and the Absolute Monster Horns.^[16]

The band tours worldwide and regularly performs at classic New Orleans venues like Tipitina's and the Maple Leaf Bar. They are also a mainstay at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival and have played at Bonnaroo as well as other music festivals.^[17] Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote of the Pin Your Spin album: "Cleary can be an absolute monster on his own, but Cleary’s full combo R&B is as broad, deep and roiling as the Mississippi river, the combined swinging product of local keyboard tradition, Cleary’s vocal-songwriting flair for moody Seventies soul and the spunky-meters roll of his Gentlemen".^[18]

Other

Cleary is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky!, which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz.^[19] In the film, Cleary performs a piano duo of "Tipitina" with Allen Toussaint.^[20]

Cleary played piano on Annika Chambers' 2016 album, Wild & Free.^[21]

Cleary was featured frequently on HBO's Treme.^[22]

Discography

Albums

• Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice (Ace, 1994)
• Moonburn (Virgin/Poinblank, 1999)
• Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen (Basin Street, 2002)
• Pin Your Spin (Basin Street, 2004)
• Do Not Disturb (EP) (FHQ, 2007)
• Mo Hippa (FHQ, 2008)
• Occapella (FHQ, 2012)
• Go Go Juice (FHQ, 2015)
• Dyna-Mite (FHQ, 2018)
• So Swell (Single Lock, 2023)

Appearances

• Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino - with Bonnie Raitt - Track 10 "I'm in Love Again/All by Myself" (Vanguard, 2007)
• Piety Street - by John Scofield (EmArcy, 2009)
• Plays Well with Others - by Greg Koch - Track 3 "Walk Before You can Crawl" (Rhymes With Chalk Music, 2013)

References

1. "Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen", BMA. Archived 2008-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
2. joncleary.com. Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Jon Cleary". PianoGroove.com. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
4. Ramsey, Jan. "Bonnie Raitt & Jon Cleary". OffBeat Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
5. "Taj Mahal and Phantom Blues Band with Special Guest Jon Cleary | Soka University of America". Soka.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
6. "Jon Cleary in Florida, Henry Butler in Maryland. B.B.King". Basin Street Records. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
7. "Jon Cleary". Whiteoakproductions.com. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
8. "Jon Cleary". Music Rising ~ The Musical Cultures of the Gulf South. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
9. "New John Scofield album "Piety Street" proves pious". The Mac Weekly. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
10. "John Scofield and Jon Cleary's Abiding Piety". Jambands. 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
11. "Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
12. Oswell, Paul (2016-02-23). "Grammy winner Jon Cleary: 'Music isn't a choice for me – it's a bodily function'". The Guardian.
13. "Jon Cleary". GRAMMY.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
14. "Cranbrook's Grammy Award winning musician Jon Cleary". Community Ad. 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
15. "JON CLEARY - DYNA-MITE + Concertdata | ConcertMonkey". Concertmonkey.be. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
16. "Jon Cleary 10/1/2023 New Orleans, LA". Retrieved 15 October 2023 – via YouTube.
17. Keith Spera. "Farmstand Live, a two-day, drive-in music and food fest, is slated for Shrine on Airline". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
18. Fricke, David (2004-04-21). "Jon Cleary: Pin Your Spin". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-12-03.^{[dead link‍]}
19. "IAJE What's Going On". Jazz Education Journal. 37 (5). Manhattan, Kansas: International Association of Jazz Educators: 87. April 2005. ISSN 1540-2886. ProQuest 1370090.
20. Make It Funky! (DVD). Culver City, California: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 9781404991583. OCLC 61207781. 11952.
21. Gunther, Marty. "Annika Chambers – Wild And Free | Album Review". Bluesblastmagazine.com.
22. [1] ^{[dead link‍]}

External links

• Jon Cleary's official website
• Jon Cleary at AllMusic