{"title":"Jon Cleary","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"so-swell","title":"So Swell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"This is the party music many of us most closely associate with New Orleans and you are invited to crank the shit out of it because the louder you play this one the better it sounds.\" –Analog Planet \/\/ \"A true celebration of the party spirit of New Orleans music. Cleary shows his total assimilation of the New Orleans tradition...\" –Offbeat \/\/ Funk, jazz, R\u0026amp;B – these genres are so deeply rooted in New Orleans that it's no wonder the young British pianist Jon Cleary was compelled to move to the city to play. In the early 80's, he was painting the bar at the famous Maple Leaf Bar, where he listened to James Booker play live every week while soaking in the sounds of New Orleans piano greats such as Huey \"Piano\" Smith, Mac Rebennack, Fats Domino, and Professor Longhair. Now, four decades later, New Orleans has fully embraced Cleary as one of its own. Coming full circle for this recording, Cleary is backed by James Booker's rhythm section — from his last studio album Classified — James Singleton on upright bass and Johnny Vidacovich on drums. They are joined on several tracks by James Rivers, a legendary New Orleans saxophone player who played on many New Orleans funk and R\u0026amp;B classics from Big Chief to Carnival Time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Single Lock","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50389284979019,"sku":"2019811","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Jon_Cleary_-_So_Swell_809d9c7e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726356868"},{"product_id":"dyna-mite","title":"Dyna-Mite","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter winning his first rammy and constantly touring across the world, Cleary returns with his ten-song LP \u003ci\u003eDyna-Mite \u003c\/i\u003eon Thirty Tigers. Cleary's fingerprints are omnipresent throughout, with his hip-shaking piano playing in the spirit of the Crescent City. The R\u0026amp;B \/ funk \/ soul-imbued movable feast epitomizes his moniker of multi-instrumentalist, too. And after writing every song on the album but one, it made sense for him to look to his talented group of New Orleans musicians to round out the roots and emotion of \u003ci\u003eDyna-Mite\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"FHQ Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471549141323,"sku":"1040223","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50471549239627,"sku":"1040224","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/7f0c8baa-6ac5-48a3-853d-e2c5f8b25251_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727407153"},{"product_id":"the-bywater-sessions","title":"The Bywater Sessions","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter 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 neighbourhood of New Orleans, drew up a setlist of some of his most beloved songs- and some new favourites 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 \u003cem\u003eThe Bywater Sessions\u003c\/em\u003e, 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.” “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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"FHQ Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51370062086475,"sku":"R7395-2161","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51370062119243,"sku":"R7395-2092","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/FHQ011.jpg?v=1740947118"},{"product_id":"live-at-the-royal-albert-hall","title":"Live at the Royal Albert Hall","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor more than forty years, Grammy-winning pianist \u003cstrong\u003eJon Cleary\u003c\/strong\u003e has called New Orleans home, taking the sound of his adopted city around the world with \u003cstrong\u003eThe Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u003c\/strong\u003e. By 2025, though, one landmark stage still remained: London’s Royal Albert Hall.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat changed on June 16, 2025, when \u003cstrong\u003eJon Cleary\u003c\/strong\u003e delivered a solo piano set in the Hall, drawing on highlights from his songbook and paying tribute to greats including \u003cstrong\u003eLloyd Price\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eJelly Roll Morton\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCaptured live in full, this was a real homecoming, with family in the crowd and friends across the Hall. Mixed by veteran engineer and fellow Brit \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Porter\u003c\/strong\u003e, it stands as a vivid, virtuosic document of an unforgettable night.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"FHQ Records\/Well Kept Secret","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":58072549032267,"sku":"R9813-7660","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":58072549065035,"sku":"R9813-4023","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_05b983c1-2542-4709-8c9a-b55ea71a7749.jpg?v=1786135116"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/jon-cleary.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}