Tutu Jones (born September 9, 1966) is an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by artists s ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has cited

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

and

Z. Z. Hill Arzell J. "Z. Z." Hill (September 30, 1935 – April 27, 1984)Dahl, Bill. "Z.Z. Hill" Allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 March 2014. was an American blues singer best known for his recordings in the 1970s and early 1980s, including his 1982 album for Ma ...

as influences on his playing style. Since 1994, Jones has released five albums.

Life and career

John Jones Jr. was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, United States, the son of a Dallas-based R&B guitarist, Johnny B. Jones. Through his father's work, he was introduced to house guests such as Freddie King, L. C. Clark, Ernie Johnson and Little Joe Blue. Jones began playing the guitar by the age of five, by which time he had acquired his nickname Tutu from his father. He began his career in adolescence, as a drummer, graduating from backing his uncles Barefoot Miller and L. C. Clark (the latter in 1976) to working with Z. Z. Hill and

R. L. Burnside R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) was an American Hill country blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played music for most of his life but received little recognition until 1995 when Burnside recorded and toured with ...

. Meanwhile, working on his own guitar playing, by 1989 Jones had moved on to fronting his own bands. This led to the recording of his debut album, ''I'm For Real'', on

JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red, Deitra Farr, Charlie Sayles, ...

in 1994. It was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award. ''Blues Texas Soul'' followed two years later, and ''Staying Power'' in 1998. A live album, ''Tutu Jones Live'', was issued in 2005 by Doc Blues Records. A

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

at the ''

Austin Chronicle Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

'' then stated, "bluesmen are traditionalists, but Jones learns how to mesh soulful wails with syrupy blues that are as sweaty live as they are in quiet studios." His album ''Inside Out'' was released by

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution fo ...

in 2009.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Tutu 1966 births Living people American blues singers American male singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Electric blues musicians Texas blues musicians Soul-blues musicians Country blues musicians Songwriters from Texas Drummers from Dallas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians JSP Records artists Rounder Records artists American male songwriters

Life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links