As much as I’ve enjoyed the recorded output of New Orleans pianist, guitarist, singer/songwriter, Jon Cleary, this studio session marked the first time I’ve ever heard him and his band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, ‘live.’ It was an absolute, monster delight.
The band consists of Cleary on piano, guitar and lead vocals, Cornell Williams on bass and vocals, A.J. Hall on drums and vocals, and percussionist Pedro Segundo. They rocked the house with New Orleans funk and blues.
Over the years, Cleary has become central to the blues and funk music scene in New Orleans—an outcome that probably felt unlikely to him when he arrived in New Orleans from Kent, England when he was in his late teens. When he got there, he was a guitarist and only intended to stay in New Orleans for a few weeks. Well, he’s still there, decades later, and is now one of that city’s preeminent pianists and songwriters.
In our interview, Cleary talked about his first night in New Orleans and how the music venue he visited that night, The Maple Leaf Bar, would become his home, his hang, his employer and his music school.
While painting the place, he absorbed the music of the immensely talented, immensely crazy pianist, James Booker. Booker’s influence, as well as that of Professor Longhair and other NOLA musicians set Cleary on the path he follows to this day.
The first song of their set is "So Damn Good." “I feel so damn good, I’ll be glad when I got the blues,” Cleary sings. It nicely sets the stage for what to expect from this band. It’s a funky, upbeat, cheerful invitation to party - to dance and sing along. The next song, "Frenchman Street Blues," is straight-ahead slow blues.
Frenchman Street is one of the most musical streets in New Orleans, leading out of the French Quarter to the Gentilly neighborhood. If you watched the HBO series Treme, you probably heard this song and saw Cleary and the band perform. "Got To More Careful" drags us a little deeper into the funk with its slanky rhythm and tempo. Greezy!
The final song was a bit like getting a bonus track. We were talking about a guitar riff that Cleary got from one of his British uncles and all of a sudden, he and the band unleashed the song Cleary had made from it, "Boneyard."
“Before I make it to the boneyard," Cleary sings, "I’m gonna have some fun.” A perfect end to an uplifting studio session from Jon Cleary ant the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
Cleary’s new album, released earlier in 2023 is called So Swell. It certainly is.
Musicians:
- Jon Cleary - piano, guitar, vocals
- Cornell Williams - bass, vocals
- A.J. Hall - drums, vocals
- Pedro Segundo - percussion
Songs:
- I Feel So Damn Good (Happy When I Get the Blues)
- Frenchman Street Blues
- Got To Be More Careful
- Boneyard
