Charlie Jones
Paterson, New Jersey, United States
Music
Press
Indie - In Tune
April/May 2007 Feature
Charlie Jones has been an influential part of the blues scene since the 1970's, performing with Bettye Lavette, the Jimi Hendrix Alumni Band and participating in the Joni Mitchell Tribute Concert. Between performances, he is an adjunct professor at New York University. Charlie's heavy mix of blues, rock and psychedelic funk makes this master musician a diverse and intriguing part of the past and current music scene.
The music of Charlie Jones cannot be contained by one genre. His music is heavy with blues and ripe with funk and progressive rock. Jones's style drips with emotion and pure talent. Armed with a similarly talented band, Jones has the right medium with which to express his lyrics and music.
”Charlie Jones is Dead” is an old fashioned blues breakdown, with some southern style mixed in. Charlie's voice is smooth with a rugged edge. The electric guitar solo is searing and spot on. It starts off smooth and bluesy undertow and explodes into a psychedelic experience.
So ”Unhappy Baby” starts off with a woodwind and brass accompaniment with Charlie's smoky vocals slowly taking over. His misfortune and despair rings true through his lyrics. The organ solo is a nice touch and brings in the southern style. The organ is then demolished by the heavy electric guitar that rips through at the end of the song.
”That's the Way She Feels About It” is a more progressive song, with smooth vocals and a contemporary pop feel. This song diverts away from Charlie's signature style. It is not as emotive as his other songs, but it shows off his range of style and techniques.
Charlie Jones has one of those bands that you know puts on a great live show. Just listening to his tracks makes you feel as if you are in a smoky and poorly lit bar, hanging out with the regulars, rocking out to an amazing heartfelt blues band.
- Melody Geear
"Charlie Jones' eclecticism doesn't work against him. but rather draws heavily in his favor. He is a superb master of guitar and his diverse interests & abilities never seem less than coming straight from the heart. Whether he is regaling you with his blues, rock or jazz tinged musicality, there is always a 'joie de vivre' and energy at play music that is enthusiastically infectious.
His debut CD, Charlie Jones, is a sleeper keeper, full of kick ass originals that sound like instant classics and a cover of Norman Greenbaum's 'Spirit in the Sky', that is not only faithful yet imbued with a sensibility that is 21st Century modern." - Homegrown Radio
Charlie Jones
Rock With A Blues Chaser
They say that if you listen long enough to an album you'll begin to like it. That said, I must have listened to the Charlie Jones record a dozen times before it made any sense to me. It's not that it's not a good album, it's a really good album; it's just schizophrenic. Half of the tracks haven't a shred of Blues in them. And when you're expecting a Blues album - well it's confusing to say the least.
The twelfth track, "Half My Age," is a Blues track that begins with Pete Townshend's guitar riff from "Shaking All Over" off their Live at Leeds album and then goes straight into a heavy Blues jam that resolves into your standard table-rocking Blues song. The thirteenth track, "Ass Blackout/She's Too Hip," has a Texas shuffle feel and blistering guitar solo. On the song "Too High to Cry," Charlie Jones takes an enjoyable go at a B.B. King-like guitar and organ-simmering Blues number.
I would venture that 98% of the Contemporary Blues audience comes to the genre by way of the Rolling Stones or the Allman Brothers, and that the other two percent are chronic liars. That said, assuming you are still with me, the Charlie Jones album is a golf ball off the fairway and lying in the rough. With every spin my enjoyment grows. Charlie Jones is using a very diverse basis of references to come up with something rare - a good Rock record. For example, the closing track on the album, "Jessica Emmers," begins with a descending Nick Lowe-like bass line and then moves into a Cheap Trick-meets-The Dancing Hoods Pop sensibility. The lyrical twelve-string guitar solo ala George Harrison, driving drums, crisp and clean sound are very Beatles-esque. The second track, "Don't Know How to Get to You," has a strong 1980s Beserkley Records/British wave ala a poppier Flamin' Groovies or Rubinoos.
The band covers Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" (recently covered by the Blind Boys of Alabama on their album Atom Bomb). With that catchy melody line intact, the band slows the song down until it hurts and then throws in a mean, nasty, psychedelic Hendrix-like guitar solo. By the time the trumpet solo comes in at the end of the song, the beat is at a heavy Z. Z. Hill's "Downhome Blues" pace that drives the song into your brain. God, it hurts so good!
On the song "Charlie Jones is Dead" the band sounds very Mind Games era John Lennon as he sings some of the coolest lyrics I've heard in decades, "You know the one about Jesus Christ/He didn't mind dying if the cause was right/He stepped right out of his shallow grave and he left behind a shroud with his laughing face/That's good for him/But it ain't no good for me/Cause if you kill me honey, dead is all I'll ever be/Elvis was the King of Rock 'n' Roll before he blew his top down in Tupelo/He died in the bathroom from prescription dope/But I saw him pumping gas down in Roanoke/That's good for him/But it ain't no good for me/Cause if you kill me honey, dead is all I'll ever be." The song then breaks into a rapid-fire, single-note, fuzzed-up guitar solo that aches and soars amid a heavy curtain of rhythm and sound.
"Sigh" is Pink Floyd meets "Strawberry Fields Forever" in a slow and languid Pop setting replete with a heavy psychoactive 1960s drug sound. Fresh and so totally out of place that two brief chaotic piano breaks that resolve into an acoustic strumming guitar and bongo closing are perfect textures to the highly-considered structure.
The track "Sunday" is a phenomenal track that sounds to me to be a bit Sgt. Pepper-era Paul McCartney, a dash of Robert Fripp's abutting chordal dissonance with some Andy Sommers (The Police) thrown in. See? Schizophrenic and magnificent all at the same time.
This album is a highly-niche, exceptionally good Rock-with-Blues album. Because it defies a comfortable genre definition, it's not for everyone. It is well worth the time invested if your ears and your mind are wide open. No question this is one of the most interesting contemporary Rock albums I have ever heard!
Rick Galusha is a contributing editor at BluesWax
- Rick Galusha
"The brand new self-titled debut recording by Charlie Jones offers something for every music fans’ tastes. This CD has no genre boundaries, is executed to perfection, and many of the tracks will either grab you by your heart, or rock you into orbit! This is one very impressive solid effort." - Sounds of Blue, WFDU Radio
September 2007 - No 1 in NJ Airplay - Roots Music Report
Discography
Charlie Jones, 2006
Photos
Bio
Guitarist/songwriter Charlie Jones has been a mainstay of the tri-state club scene since the 1970's, and has appeared with many top jazz and R&B greats, including: Bettye Lavette, Big John Patton, Illinois Jaquette, Jimmy McGriff, Bernard Purdie, Jesse Morrison, Larry Young, and Lonnie Youngblood.
Hes performed in the Jimi Hendrix Alumni Band with Randy California, Buddy Miles & Larry Coryell, accompanied singer Tiny Tim and was a cast member on the Uncle Floyd Show, sitting in regularly for guitarist Jimmy Vivino.
Charlie recently performed at the Joni Mitchell Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall with Bettye Lavette.
Charlie Jones has released his first official debut CD, Charlie Jones, on his own Verge Insult Music label. Drawing from his diverse musical influences, the CD features an eclectic mix of styles from rock, pop & blues, to funk, jazz, psychedelic rock, rhythm & blues and soul.
Produced by Charlie Jones and Rob Melosh, the CD contains 13 original Charlie Jones compositions and a cover of Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum.
Charlie Jones consists of NJ musicians: Charlie Jones on guitar & vocals , Paul Unsworth on drums, Matt Raymond on bass, Gary Mancinelli on keyboards, and Nick Spidaletto on guitars & vocals.
When not playing music, Charlie is an adjunct guitar and Jazz ensemble instructor at New York University.
Charlie Jones CD No.1 Roots Music report NJ Airplay September 07!!!
"A superb master of guitar"
John hammel, Homegrown Radio
Rick Galusha in Blueswax says This is one of the most interesting rock albums I have ever heard!
Bob Putignano, Sounds of Blue, WFDU Radio says
"The brand new self-titled debut recording by Charlie Jones offers something for every music fans tastes. This CD has no genre boundaries, is executed to perfection, and many of the tracks will either grab you by your heart, or rock you into orbit! This is one very impressive solid effort."
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