JW-Jones
Friday August 16, 2019 @ 8:00 PM
41 Bridge Street Live is happy to welcome JW-Jones to our stage on Friday, August 16th at 8PM!
The improv magic you hear on JW-Jones� 10th album, Live, is the spark that has awakened new sonic frontiers for the veteran Maple Blues Award-winning Ottawa bluesman.
�I cranked up my overdrive in concert one night for fun, and it opened up this new world of ideas for me,� admits the JUNO-nominated Jones, whose searing axemanship has been praised by Blues Revue Magazine as �a fluid amalgam of T-Bone Walker�s big, bright chords; Johnny �Guitar� Watson�s slashing leads and Clarence �Gatemouth� Brown�s jazzy sting.�
�I felt a new sense of freedom.� That sense of freedom resonates through Live, an exciting collection of 11 previously-unreleased songs lovingly recorded over two nights at a sold-out Gatineau, QC theatre by producer Zach Allen, fresh off his Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award victory for the Taj Mahal/Keb� Mo collaboration TajMo.
�This album is a big departure for me,� Jones explains. �Especially on songs like �I Don�t Believe A Word You Say� and �Moanin� at Midnight:� both of those songs clock in at over six minutes and I�m playing that overdriven guitar in a way I�ve literally never played on record before.�
As he continues to evolve as one of Canada�s most versatile bluesmen, with one foot in the terra firma of the traditional blues espoused by the likes of Howlin� Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin and harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite (who both guested on Jones� memorable Midnight Memphis Sun, recorded at the historic Sun Studio) and blues contemporaries Robert Cray, for whom the JW-Jones band has occasionally opened, he continues to challenge and raise his standards through his recordings and the 130 dates on average yearly that he clocks in on the road.
�Audiences get excited because it�s all so organic,� notes Jones, who stretches out on Live with his Goldtop Gibson Les Paul. �The blues is such a universal language, and the fact that we never play the same solo twice just adds to that vibrant energy, which I think we really capture on this album.�
Live also embraces Jones� continuing appreciation of modern days blues music, best illustrated by the album�s opening number, a rendition of Robert Cray�s �A Memo (Nothin� But Love.)� �The first time I heard that tune, written by Robert�s bass player, Richard Cousins, I fell in love with it,� says Jones.
�It�s a really great contemporary blues song because it doesn�t sound traditional and it�s got a great chorus and harmonies. Robert saw a video of our version and gave us the thumbs-up.� It also represents progress, reflecting Jones� growing modern tastes. �When I first started out, I studied old blues records and wanted to be accepted by my heroes. I wanted them to notice that I was staying authentic to the sound.
Over the years things have changed, and I want to play and write music that moves me, even if it doesn�t sound like a Chicago blues tune cut in 1956. I feel that I need to play the music that speaks to me personally.�
An additional highlight is the inclusion of the JW-Jones showstopper � the 17-song medley that rifles through snippets of classic guitar riffs. �It�s been a staple of our live show for years,� says Jones. �People have been asking us to record it forever, so now we�ve finally captured it for everyone to enjoy!�
Tickets to see JW-Jones are $15 for General Admission and $25 for VIP (plus fees).
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