Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen
Fri, Aug 16
|Ground Zero Blues Club Biloxi
“Cleary is the 8th wonder of the world” – Bonnie Raitt “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 “I love playing with Jon Cleary, he’s the real deal” – Taj Mahal
Time & Location
Aug 16, 2024, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Ground Zero Blues Club Biloxi, 814 Howard Ave, Biloxi, MS 39530, USA
About the event
Jon Cleary was born in London in 1962. He is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer. He moved from the UK to Louisiana after leaving school as a teenager to pursue a career in music. He started playing guitar in England at age 5, started performing at age 11 and started doing paid gigs as a musician age 14. At age 16 he formed "Delta Wing" with renowned blues slide guitarist Roger Hubbard.
Rolling Stones guitarist, Keth Richards, introduced Cleary to musician/record producer John Porter who hired him to write, record and tour with Taj Mahal (who covered four of Cleary’s compositions.) While 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. She recorded five of his songs and he stayed with her for 10 years while juggling his own career touring around the
world with his New Orleans rhythm section, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
He won a Grammy Award in 2015 for Best Regional Roots Music Album for Go Go Juice. Cleary has consistently won New Orleans Offbeat awards for over 20 years. Some of the ones he has won are the best piano/keyboardist, best Louisiana artist, record of the year and several Gambit New Orleans "best of" awards. In 2017 he was presented with the prestigious Ascona Jazz award.