Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen at 3rd And Lindsley

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 hes a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer, as well. Guitar was his firstlove, startingin England at age 5, moving on to performing at 11 and graduating to working as a musician at 14. Atage 16 he formed Delta Wing with renowned blues slide guitarist Roger Hubbard (of whom Muddy Waters said in1972: Roger Hubbard is as good as any bluesguitarist in the UK or the United States.) This would be the first of hismany brushes with greatness.As a teen Cleary grew increasingly interested in funk-infused music and discovered that three such songs that heparticularly admiredLaBelles Lady Marmalade, Robert Palmers version of Sneakin Sally Through the Alley,and Frankie Millers rendition of Brickyard Blueswere attributed to Allen Toussaint as either the songwriter, theproducer, or both...

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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 hes a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer, as well. Guitar was his firstlove, startingin England at age 5, moving on to performing at 11 and graduating to working as a musician at 14. Atage 16 he formed Delta Wing with renowned blues slide guitarist Roger Hubbard (of whom Muddy Waters said in1972: Roger Hubbard is as good as any bluesguitarist in the UK or the United States.) This would be the first of hismany brushes with greatness.As a teen Cleary grew increasingly interested in funk-infused music and discovered that three such songs that heparticularly admiredLaBelles Lady Marmalade, Robert Palmers version of Sneakin Sally Through the Alley,and Frankie Millers rendition of Brickyard Blueswere attributed to Allen Toussaint as either the songwriter, theproducer, or both. Clearys knowledge of Toussaints workexpanded significantly when his uncle returned home tothe U.K., after a two-year sojourn in New Orleans, with a copy of a Toussaint LP and two suitcases full of NewOrleans Rthe instrument for which he is known today. His mastery of the New Orleans style landed him gigsplaying 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).

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