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Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen
 Jonathan
Cleary, a New Orleans based musician, was born in North London in 1962 and
moved to Louisiana in 1980.
His style
embodies the tradition of the great New Orleans piano professors like Professor
Longhair, Dr. John, James Booker, and Allen Toussaint combining old time
boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, and funk with elements of the Caribbean and
Cuba.
Cleary
grew up in a musical household.
His
Uncles and Father were all singers and musicians
, as were his grandfather and grandmother who performed under the
stage names of Frank Neville
'The little
Fella with the educated Feet'
and Sweet Dolly Daydream. He began playing along with Beatles LPs on the guitar
at the age of 5, and at age 11 joined the orchestra for a children’s theater
group. Cleary’s first paying gig was at
The Duke of York pub in Cranbrook when he was just 14, sitting in
with Eric Money and Louis Turpin.
Upon
meeting Roger Hubbard, an acclaimed slide guitarist living in Hastings, Cleary
formed his first real gigging band, Delta Wing. Cleary studied art at West Kent
College, and then worked on a building site while saving up money to move to
New Orleans.
At 17,
Cleary made the move to the Big Easy and sought employment painting at the
Maple Leaf Bar, and slowly began making a name for himself playing local gigs
with some of
New Orleans
most talented musicians. He picked up residencies at the Maple
Leaf, Tipitinas, and the Old Absinthe House bar. Cleary also went out on the
road with drummer Kenneth Blevins and original Meters bassist, George Porter,
Jr. while
backing up Snooks
Eaglin and Earl King
at steady gigs around the
Crescent City. Jon found himself joining a rhythm section comprised of
artists such as Erving Charles and Smokey Johnson from Fats' Dominos' band,
Johnny Vidacovich and James Singleton.
As a session
musician, sideman and a band leader, Cleary performed with Ernie K-doe, Jessie
Hill, John Mooney. He joined Johnny Adams musical director Walter ‘Wolfman
‘Washingtons ‘Solar System’ band and performed with Johnny and Walter regularly
at famed New Orleans late night hangout, Dorothy’s Medallion Lounge. He
recorded two albums with Johnny and Walter for Rounder records at this time. He
also started touring regularly in Europe and Australia, both as a solo act and
with pick-up bands.
Jon
recorded his first album,
Alligator Lips
and Dirty Rice, after receiving financial backing from John Broven, author
of
Walking to New Orleans. Cleary recorded another solo album,
Moonburn, in 1989. He then lived briefly
in New York City but moved back to Louisiana in 1992 a
nd formed The Absolute Monster Gentlemen with
Derwin “Big D” Perkins and Cornell Williams, formerly of the gospel band the
Friendly Travelers. Cleary got the phrase “absolute monster gentlemen” from
Johnny “Guitar” Watson, who used this term to describe his own band members.
The steady band line up allowed Jon to perform his own compositions and
the musical direction changed from traditional
New Orleans rhythm and blues to a more sophisticated, syncopated style of soul
and funk.
After
returning to London, Cleary spent some time traveling and touring solo
returning to the U.S. in 1995 to write and tour with roots legend, Taj Mahal in
Los Angeles. Subsequently, Bonnie Raitt asked him to join her band and he
stayed on, contributing two songs to the next album
Silver Lining in
2002. Cleary also recorded the self-titled
Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen for Basin Street Records the same year. He has continued
to put out his own albums with the Absolute Monster Gentlemen including
Pin
Your Spin on Basin Street Records.
In 2007, Cleary released a solo EP recording in hotel rooms during an
extended tour with Bonnie Raitt, entitled
Do Not Disturb.
Cleary’s piano stylings and vocals are heard on
recordings by Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Ryan Adams, and Eric Burdon,
India Arie, and
Keb
Mo.
Cleary’s original compositions have been
recorded by Taj Mahal on Phantom Blues, and Bonnie Raitt’s most recent albums
Souls Alike and Silver Lining.
He was featured in a Martin Scorsese T.V documentary with Tom
Jones, Van Morrison and Jeff Beck.
Cleary
currently does double duty performing as full-time keyboardist for Grammy
Winner Bonnie Raitt when not touring with the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
Basic Info:
Jonathan Cleary,born
:
London
,
August 11, 1962
.
Musician, born in
England, moved to New Orleans 1980.
Influences: Johnny
'Guitar' Watson, Lowell George, Mac Rebbenac,
Allen Toussaint, Taj
Mahal, Walter Washington, Chuck Leavell, Billy
Payne, James Booker,
Earl King, Ernesto Lecuona, Papo Lucca,
Contemporaries:
Walter Washington, Henry Butler, John Mooney, Davell
Crawford
Notable Quotes:
"Jon
Cleary is the ninth wonder in the world."-- Bonnie Raitt
"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.
"
-
David Fricke "Pin Your
Spin" Review Rolling Stone - April 21, 2004
“Cleary plays
piano as if he's revving up an engine and sings as if a line drawing of his
behatted self were next to "soul" in Webster's.”
--The
Washington Post, June 15, 2005 -- Pamela Murray Winters
“The Next New Orleans Piano ‘Professor’”-
FoxNews.com
Discography:
‘Alligator
Lips and Dirty Rice’ 1994 –FHQ Records
‘Moonburn’
1999-Virgin/Point Blank Records
‘Jon
Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen’ 2002 -Basin Street Records
‘Pin Your
Spin’ 2004 -Basin Street Records
‘Do Not
Disturb’ 2007 –FHQ Records
MP3 Sample Tracks:
So Damn Good
When You Get Back
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