Curtis Jones (pianist)
Curtis Jones (August 18, 1906, Naples, Texas - September 11, 1971, Munich, Germany) was an American blues pianist.
[edit] Biography
Jones played guitar whilst young but switched to piano after a move to Dallas.[1] In 1936 he relocated to Chicago, where he recorded between 1937 and 1941 on Vocalion, Bluebird, and OKeh. Among his best-known tunes from these recordings were the hit "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" and the song "Tin Pan Alley".[1] World War II interrupted his recording career, which he did not resume until 1953, when Al Benson released a single of his, "Wrong Blues"/"Cool Playing Blues", on Parrot, featuring L. C. McKinley on guitar.
Jones's first full-length album appeared in 1960 on Bluesville, by which time he had become a noted performer on the Chicago folk music scene.[1] A solo album appeared in 1962, but by that time Jones had moved to Europe, where he spent the rest of his life, apart from a couple of years living in Morocco.[1] He made further albums in the UK; the last in 1968 when visiting with the AFBF was produced by Mike Vernon with Alexis Korner on guitar.[1]
His first instrument had been the guitar, and he liked to play a number or two on his records and in personal appearances.[1]
Jones died in Germany from heart failure in 1971, at the age of 65.[2]
[edit] Discography
- Trouble Blues (Bluesville Records, 1960)
- Lonesome Bedroom Blues (Delmark Records, 1962)
- In London 1968 with Alexis Korner (2022 on Beat Goes On records)
[edit] References
- Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 128. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed May 2009
- Sources
- Curtis Jones at Allmusic
- Harry Shapiro Alexis Korner: The Biography, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London 1997, Discography by Mark Troster, ISBN 0-7475-3163-3
