Chris Jones (November 11, 1958 – September 13, 2005) was an American singer and guitarist who worked mainly in Europe, having moved to Germany after he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He often recorded with the German audiophile label

Stockfisch Records Stockfisch Records is a German independent record label, aimed at audiophile fans of guitar-oriented singer-songwriter music and was formed in 1974 by Günter Pauler. Based in Germany, the main focus is European artists, but there are also Amer ...

Biography

Christopher Paul Jones was born in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. At the age of five, he began playing the guitar. A few years later, he decided to become a professional musician, and when he was 11 years old, he was admitted to a program at the

Peabody Conservatory of Music The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. There he discovered

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, to whom he dedicated his student composition "Sonata in D", and for which Jones was awarded the conservatory's "Young Composer of the Year" award. Shortly thereafter, he discovered the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and started listening to

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

, and

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

. In 1976, Jones joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Adenine's, Germany. During this time, the foundation for his musical career in Europe was laid. Over the following decades, he played guitar on albums of artists such as

Sara K. Sara Katherine Wooldridge, known professionally as Sara K., is an American singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. She withdrew from the music business in 2009. Early life Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in a family surrounded b ...

, Allan Taylor, and

Reinhard Mey Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born 21 December 1942) is a German "Liedermacher" (literally "songmaker", a German-style singer-songwriter). In France he is known as ''Frédérik Mey''. By 2009, Mey had released 27 German albums, and generally ...

. He toured and recorded solo and with the blues

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

musician Steve Baker. In August 2005, Jones was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

in an advanced stage. He died on September 13, 2005 in

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document r ...

, Germany. Many friends and other musicians helped him, either personally or by staging charity concerts to help with his expenses.

Music

Jones' repertoire encompassed various musical styles, among them

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, much of which was published on Stockfisch Records label.

Selected discography

Solo

* 1983 ''No Looking Back'' * 1995 ''The Dreaming Pool'' * 1998 ''Free Man'' * 2000 ''Moonstruck'' * 2003 ''Roadhouses and Automobiles''

with Steve Baker

* 1995 ''Slow Roll'' * 1996 ''Everybody's Crying Mercy'' * 2003 ''Smoke and Noise'' * 2005 ''Gotta Look Up''

with Kieran Halpin

* 1995 ''Glory Dayz'' * 2002 ''Moving Air'' * 2002 ''Back Smiling Again'' * 2004 ''The Roundtower Sessions'' * 2005 ''A Box of Words and Tunes''

with Reinhard Mey

* 2002 ''Rüm Hart'' * 2004 ''Nanga Parbat''

with Sara K.

* 2002 ''Waterfalls'' * 2002 ''Live in Concert: Are We There Yet?'' * 2006 ''Hell or High Water''

with Steve Strauss

*2005 ''Just Like Love''

Early works (with various musicians)

* 1979 ''Friends and Charlie'' * 1980 ''Night Shift'' * 1980 ''Getting Your Own Back'' * 1993 ''Mr. Bluesman'' (

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

)

References

External links

Memorial page of the "bluenote eV"
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Chris 1958 births 2005 deaths Deaths from cancer in Germany Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma 20th-century classical composers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from Nevada American expatriates in Germany Musicians from Reno, Nevada American male classical composers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Nevada 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Stockfisch Records artists American male songwriters