Jon Cleary - The Bywater Sessions

Album: The Bywater Sessions
Size: 97,4 MB
Time: 41:52
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Funk/Soul/R&B mix
Art: Front

1. So Damn Good (4:12)
2. Zulu Coconuts (4:12)
3. Fessa Longhair Boogaloo (6:14)
4. Uptown Downtown (3:18)
5. Bin A Lil' Minit (3:02)
6. Just Kissed My Baby (5:47)
7. Boneyard (3:27)
8. Lottie Mo (4:05)
9. Pickle For A Tickle (3:28)
10. Unnecessarily Mercenary (4:02)

After thirty-five years of being at the forefront of the ever-evolving musical landscape of New Orleans, Grammy Award winner Jon Cleary decided to bring that sound back home, both figuratively and literally. He assembled his Absolute Monster Gentlemen (his acclaimed all-star big band) in his home studio in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, drew up a setlist of some of his most beloved songs - and some new favorites - and rolled tape."We set out to capture that sound in the old-fashioned way: everybody in the room, playing together," Cleary explains.

The result is The Bywater Sessions, a musical tour-de-force that showcases the grit, funk and joy that's packed concert halls from New Orleans to Tokyo and beyond. Co-produced by Cleary and John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths, Taj Mahal), it's a stunning collection of performances that affirms Cleary's place in the New Orleans musical vanguard."There's a lot to be said for the 'lean and mean' sound of a piano trio, stripped down to basics, simple and direct," Cleary says. "But recently, I've been experimenting with different combinations; adding horns, guitar, percussion and even another keyboard player. This expanded line-up has allowed the arrangements to blossom in new directions."

As for the musicians, it's the best of the best. Long time Monster Gentlemen Cornell Williams and A.J. Hall anchor the band on bass and drums, respectively. They are joined by Nigel Hall (Lettuce) on Hammond organ, Pedro Segundo (Ronnie Scott's All Stars) on percussion, Xavier Lynn (MonoNeon, Ledisi) on guitar, and an all-star horn section of Aaron Narcisse (Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra), Charlie Halloran (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Preservation Hall All Stars) and Jason Mingledorff (Galactic).

"Sophisticated, nasty, good-time, low-down funk is the folk music of New Orleans," Cleary says. "Everyone playing on this recording is a New Orleanian by birth or by choice, having learned their craft at the feet of the masters who in turn were taught by the old lions in their day - it's a tradition stretching back over two hundred years. The roots go deep, but each generation, growing up with street parades and second-lines, absorbs the old and introduces the new, gently coaxing the essential essence into and out of each succeeding decade." /Blues Music Store

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Various - The Rough Guide To The Music Of New Orleans

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 101:27
Size: 232.3 MB
Styles: New Orleans Blues, Funk, R&B
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[2:15] 1. Jessie Hill - Ooh Poo Pah Doo
[3:10] 2. The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py
[3:12] 3. Earl King - Street Parade
[3:42] 4. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux - Monk's Mardi Gras
[4:41] 5. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux - Zulu King
[5:03] 6. Kermit Ruffins - Tremé Mardi Gras
[6:32] 7. Papa Grows Fun - Soul Second Line
[4:59] 8. New Orleans Nightcrawlers - - Hold 'em Joe
[4:57] 9. The Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual Healing
[4:44] 10. Dumpstaphunk - Sheez Music
[4:11] 11. Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen - When You Get Back
[3:54] 12. Los Hombres Calientes - El Barrio
[3:50] 13. Professor Longhair - Big Chief
[3:56] 14. Dr. John - Mac's Boogie
[5:48] 15. Dr. Michael White - Basin Street Blues
[5:54] 16. Dumpstaphunk - Shake It Off
[3:57] 17. Dumpstaphunk - Meanwhile..
[6:16] 18. Dumpstaphunk - Stinky
[4:44] 19. Dumpstaphunk - Turn This Thing Around
[5:00] 20. Dumpstaphunk - Deeper
[4:44] 21. Dumpstaphunk - Oughta Know Better
[5:46] 22. Dumpstaphunk - Livin Ina Worl Gone Mad

From the 19th century African music gatherings in Congo Square to the birth of jazz and its offshoots, New Orleans is one of America's most important music cities, and with the Rough Guide to the Music of New Orleans collection, listeners get a well-rounded taste of the Crescent City's musical gumbo. The collection touches on traditional jazz torchbearers (Dr. Michael White), classic R&B (Jessie Hill, Earl King), down-home funk (the Meters), Mardi Gras-ready brass players (Kermit Ruffins, Hot 8 Brass Band), global-influenced groovers (Los Hombres Calientes), and artists on the rise (Papa Grows Funk). ~Chrysta Cherrie

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Jon Cleary - 2 albums: Gogo Juice / Occapella

Album: Gogo Juice
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:38
Size: 93.0 MB
Styles: New Orleans blues, Funk-blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:46] 1. Pump It Up
[3:55] 2. Boneyard
[4:48] 3. Brother I'm Hungry
[4:01] 4. Getcha Gogo Juice
[3:58] 5. Beg Steal Or Borrow
[4:52] 6. Step Into My Life
[5:56] 7. Bringing Back The Home
[5:46] 8. 9-5
[4:32] 9. Love On One Condition

GoGo Juice is the new album from one of New Orleans' premier musical ambassadors, Jon Cleary. Made in collaboration with multi-Grammy winning producer John Porter (B.B. King, Keb Mo, Ryan Adams, Los Lonely Boys) each of the carefully crafted songs is a delicate balance of the smooth and the rough; instantly memorable hooks over a set of sophisticated and soulful arrangements. The tracks were recorded over several days deep in the bayou country of Louisiana and subsequently honed in his studio in the old Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. A blend of musical intelligence with direct, accessible pop simplicity that draws from tradition and yet is distinctively separate from it, these songs rep- resent the many aspects of Cleary s musical personality as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter.

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Album: Occapella
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:06
Size: 84.9 MB
Styles: New Orleans blues
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:27] 1. Let's Get Low Down
[2:38] 2. Occapella
[3:43] 3. Poor Boy Got To Move
[3:15] 4. Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky
[4:01] 5. Southern Nights
[2:57] 6. Viva La Money
[2:40] 7. Wrong Number
[2:12] 8. Popcorn Pop Pop
[3:14] 9. What Do You Want The Girl To Do
[3:11] 10. When The Party's Over
[2:47] 11. I'm Gone
[2:54] 12. Fortune Teller

"Having fun with the songs of Allen Toussaint," Jon Cleary has chosen a mix of popular and less familiar pieces penned by legendary songwriter Allen Toussaint to re-imagine, like the lesser-known title track as well as better known tunes like "Southern Nights," "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky," and "Fortune Teller," most recently made popular by Robert Plant/Alison Krauss.

The seeds for Jon Cleary's sixth solo CD were sown when the acclaimed songwriter, pianist and singer was asked the hypothetical question, "Would you ever do a record of somebody else's tunes?" The English-born Cleary, who has made New Orleans his home for more than three decades, provides his emphatic answer with the utterly captivating Occapella.

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Jon Cleary - Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice

Size: 86,1 MB
Time: 36:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Piano Blues, New Orleans Blues
Art: Front & Back

01. Go Ahead Baby (4:07)
02. Long Distance Lover (2:52)
03. C'mon Second Line (3:19)
04. Groove Me (3:24)
05. In The Mood (5:23)
06. Big Chief (4:00)
07. Let Them Talk (3:11)
08. Pick Up The Pieces (7:48)
09. Burnt Mouth Boogie (2:21)

A respected session and sideman, British blues pianist and composer Jon Cleary has worked with rock, blues, and soul artists like Bonnie Raitt, D'Angelo, Maria Muldaur, Taj Mahal, and Eric Clapton.

Originally a guitarist, Cleary began playing at age five, and started his first band at 15. Raised on blues, jazz, and soul records, his love of New Orleans blues and jazz in particular took him across the ocean after he graduated from art school.

Upon arriving in New Orleans, Cleary started hanging out at one of the city's most storied venues -- the Maple Leaf Club. The bar's owner offered him a job painting the Maple Leaf's exterior; free admission and beer were Cleary's wages. He soaked up the bar's atmosphere, realizing that blues piano was his calling; the house he lived in had a piano, on which he spent hours practicing each day.

Returning to London culminated in forming a six-piece traditional New Orleans R&B band, with which he developed a reputation as a talented and gentlemanly musician. However, the Big Easy called to Cleary again. He moved back and got bookings in clubs as a featured and side performer, playing with bluesmen like Smokey Johnson, James Singleton, and George Porter. One of these gigs included Walter "Wolfman" Washington in the audience; taken with Cleary's playing, Washington offered Cleary a spot in his own band. Cleary played with Washington for two years, continuing his introduction to more sophisticated forms of R&B and blues, as well as incorporating Latin influences into his style.

At this point, Cleary began writing his own material and formed his own band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, with bassist Cornell Williams and guitarist Derwin "Big D" Perkins from the gospel group the Friendly Travelers, and drummer Jeffrey "Jellybean" Alexander. Just as the Absolute Monster Gentlemen achieved a reputation as one of New Orleans' finest combos, Cleary encountered visa problems and had to return to the U.K. immediately.

Back in England, Cleary continued refining and expanding his vision of the blues, when he received a call from producer John Porter, a fellow Englishman who had seen some of Cleary's performances at the Maple Leaf and wanted to introduce him to the blues scene at large. Recording with Taj Mahal and a gig at the Hollywood Athletic Club followed, as well as a collaboration between Cleary and Porter on his 1999 solo debut album, Moonburn. Three years would go by until a new album would be prepared, but by 2002 he had an eponymous album ready with the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. ~Biography by Heather Phares

Thanks to DrPeak
Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice

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