JON CLEARY
Jon Cleary was born in London in 1962… not the first line you expect in a bio about a New Orleans piano great, is it? Not only that, but he’s a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer, as well. Guitar was his first love, starting in England at age 5, moving on to performing at 11 and graduating to working as a musician at 14. At age 16 he formed ‘Delta Wing’ with renowned blues slide guitarist Roger Hubbard (of whom Muddy Waters said in 1972: 'Roger Hubbard is as good as any blues guitarist in the UK or the United States’.) This would be the first of his many brushes with greatness.
As a teen Cleary grew increasingly interested in funk-infused music and discovered that three such songs that he particularly admired – LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” Robert Palmer’s version of “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” and Frankie Miller’s rendition of “Brickyard Blues” – were attributed to Allen Toussaint as either the songwriter, the producer, or both. Cleary’s knowledge of Toussaint’s work expanded significantly when his uncle returned home to the U.K., after a two-year sojourn in New Orleans, with a copy of a Toussaint LP and two suitcases full of New Orleans R&B 45s.
The match was struck. In 1981 Cleary flew to New Orleans for an initial pilgrimage and took a cab straight from the airport to the Maple Leaf Bar, a storied venue which then featured such great blues-rooted eclectic pianists as Roosevelt Sykes and James Booker. Cleary first worked at the Maple Leaf as a painter, but soon graduated to playing piano— the instrument for which he is known today.
His mastery of the New Orleans style landed him gigs playing as a session musician in the bands of local legends Earl King, Johnny Adams, Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington, Snooks Eaglin, Ernie K-Doe, Jessie Hill and as a guitarist for Mac Rebennack (Dr John).
'Listen, we got a guy by the name of Johnny Cleary who’s been livin’ in N’awlins for a long time. He’s got the spirit. You can’t beat that'. -Dr. John
1989 saw the release of Cleary’s first album, Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice. It was also the year he moved briefly to New York and landed the job of providing the backing band for visiting New Orleans artists at leading NY venue, ‘Tramps’. In New York he was able to study Afro Cuban music and, after a temporary move back to London, started traveling regularly to Havana and Santiago in the early 90’s.
‘I love playing with Jon Cleary, he’s the real deal’ -Taj Mahal
Soon after, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards introduced Cleary to musician/record producer John Porter who then hired him to write, record and tour with Taj Mahal - who covered four of Cleary’s compositions. When Porter secured a record deal for Cleary with Virgin, Cleary invested the advance money on recording equipment and set up a studio in New Orleans where he recorded Moonburn, and then two further records for Basin Street Records. He called the studio, aptly, “Funk Headquarters”.
'Cleary is the 8th wonder of the world’ - Bonnie Raitt
Later on in Los Angeles, performing with BB King, Cleary was asked by Bonnie Raitt to join her new band in which he played keyboards, percussion and guitar. Cleary stayed for a decade, Raitt cut five of Cleary’s songs, and all the while, Cleary juggled his own career touring around the world with his celebrated band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
"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, Rolling Stone
In 2016, Cleary released Go Go Juice to critical acclaim. It went on to earn him his first GRAMMY. Later on he partnered with guitarist John Scofield for a number of tours worldwide. Cleary also appeared in Martin Scorcese’s documentary “Red, White & Blue”, accompanying Jeff Beck, Tom Jones and Van Morrison at Abbey Road Studios in London.
'He is a real fountain of knowledge and one of the great R&B singers of our time’ - John Scofield
His dizzying career has included on-stage performances and studio recordings with a veritable who’s who of the business; Rufus Thomas, John Lee Hooker, D’Angelo, Heavy D, Eric Clapton, Keb-Mo, Ryan Adams, Levon Helm, Zigaboo Modeliste, Mavis Staples, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint, Dr John, Brian May, Robert Plant (Cleary’s one and only gig as a drummer!), Warren Storm, Bobby Charles, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur, Walter Trout, Norbert Scrod, Little Milton, Ike Turner, Henry Butler, Charles Brown, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Junior Wells, Irma Thomas… and the list goes on and on.
In addition to his aforementioned GRAMMY, Cleary has spent the last 20 years consistently winning New Orleans music awards including Best Piano/Keyboard Player, Best Louisiana Artist and Record of the Year from OffBeat, as well as several Gambit New Orleans ‘Best Of”’s. In 2017 he was presented with the prestigious Ascona Jazz award. In 2020 he was named the “Best International Blues Act” by UK tastemaker JazzFM.
Today, the music continues. Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen tour all over the world on an almost never ending basis, while maintaining a robust local schedule in New Orleans. In addition, Cleary’s solo piano performances remain a fan favorite at venues like Chickie Wah Wah and the Saturn Bar.
Releases
"This is the party music many of us most closely associate with New Orleans and you are invited to crank the shit out of it because the louder you play this one the better it sounds." –Analog Planet
"A true celebration of the party spirit of New Orleans music. Cleary shows his total assimilation of the New Orleans tradition..." –Offbeat
Funk, jazz, R&B – these genres are so deeply rooted in New Orleans that it’s no wonder the young British pianist Jon Cleary was compelled to move to the city to play. In the early 80’s, he was painting the bar at the famous Maple Leaf Bar, where he listened to James Booker play live every week while soaking in the sounds of New Orleans piano greats such as Huey “Piano” Smith, Mac Rebennack, Fats Domino, and Professor Longhair.
Now, four decades later, New Orleans has fully embraced Cleary as one of its own. Coming full circle for this recording, Cleary is backed by James Booker’s rhythm section — from his last studio album Classified — James Singleton on upright bass and Johnny Vidacovich on drums. They are joined on several tracks by James Rivers, a legendary New Orleans saxophone player who played on many New Orleans funk and R&B classics from Big Chief to Carnival Time.
Single Lock is proud to release “So Swell”, previously available only as a limited edition LP, to fans worldwide on CD and digital formats. We want to thank Newvelle Records for their cooperation on this project.
Musicians:
Jon Cleary - Vocals, Piano, B3 Organ, Percussion
James Singleton - Upright Bass
Johnny Vidacovich - Drums
James Rivers - Saxophone
“My family was Londoners but my mom and dad moved down to the country when I was very little. What I heard was what every kid heard at that time. We had one program a week on English TV called Top of the Pops, which was usually pretty dreadful. But through my family I had access to this other world of music. They all were music lovers and they all had tastes that were in a particular area. One of the people I learned the most from was my Auntie, who around ’73 was a striking gorgeous girl with big afro and platform shoes and hot pants. And so I’d go through her record collection and there was Donny Hathaway, and all kinds of hip Staple Singers, Dr John, the Right Place, Wrong Time album. And her brother, my uncle, had recently returned from a long stay here in New Orleans. He was an exotic character that would flit in and out of our lives depending on where he was traveling in the world. One minute he’d be working on sardine boats in the Mediterranean and the next thing he was living in a cave in southern Morocco right on the edge of the Sahara. And then one time he came back and he’d been in New Orleans for about 2 or 3 years and he was raving about a piano player that he would see called Professor Longhair, and that name just always really tickled me, Professor Longhair. So I was probably 10 or 11 years old at that time. And when I’d go up and stay with him and visit he had piles of New Orleans 45s that he’d brought back in suitcases and we’d spend hours .. he knew I was interested and gave me a lot of encouragement and say you should hear this, and check this out. So I got a great education in New Orleans R&B from him. He had 45s by Professor Longhair and Clarence Henry, Smiley Lewis, all kinds of great people. Obscure bands like Jiving Gene and the Jokers that still people don’t talk about. So that was the stuff that I really liked. Part of the appeal perhaps was because it was so rare. No one else knew anything about it. No one else at my school had ever heard of Professor Longhair. No one in England had ever heard of Professor Longhair. There were no ‘Fess albums then, just 45s... So anyway, I learned from records. I didn’t know it was funk at the time. It was just very syncopated music that spoke of something exotic to a young child in England in the 1970’s. ”
--Jon Cleary March 12, 2020