Curtis Alan Jones (born April 26, 1968), better known by his stage name Green Velvet, is an American singer, record producer and DJ. He is also known as Cajmere, Geo Vogt, Half Pint, Curan Stone, and Gino Vittori.
Early life
Curtis Alan Jones was born on April 26, 1968 in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
. He grew up listening to
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 ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...
, and rock. In the mid 1980s, he was introduced to
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
via the radio. He started making music with a "sixty-buck keyboard, a cheap four-track and a cheap drum machine".
Jones graduated from the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...
with a degree in
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...
. After attending the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, he moved back to Chicago in 1991.
Career
In 1991, Jones started releasing his music under the Cajmere moniker. In 1992, he founded a record label, Cajual Records. In that year, he released a collaborative single with
Dajae
Karen Gordon, better known by her stage name Dajae (), is a female R&B and dance music singer born in Chicago, Illinois.
Biography
Dajae sang in various soul bands for over a decade prior to working with house music producer Cajmere, who feature ...
, titled "Brighter Days" that peaked at number 2 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
''
Hot Dance Music/Club Play
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart. In the same year, he released the single "Coffee Pot (It's Time for the Percolator)" also known as "Percolator". ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' included it on its "20 Best Chicago House Records" list in 2014 while ''
Mixmag
''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights.
History
The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...
'' included it on its "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019. In 1993, he founded another label, Relief Records.
In 1995, he released a single, "Flash", under the Green Velvet moniker. It reached number 1 on the ''Billboard''
Dance Club Songs
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart. ''Billboard'' included it on the "10 Essential '90s Rave Jams" list in 2019. ''Mixmag'' included it on the "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019.
Green Velvet's debut studio
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...
, ''
Constant Chaos
''Constant Chaos'' is the debut studio album by Green Velvet. It was released on Music Man Records in 1999.
Critical reception
John Bush of AllMusic wrote, "Though none of the previous Green Velvet club favorites are reprised for his album, Caj ...
'', was released in 1999. In 2000, he released a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...
, '' Green Velvet''. He released '' Whatever'' in 2001, '' Walk in Love'' in 2005, and ''Unshakable'' in 2013.
In 2014, he teamed up with Claude VonStroke to form the side project Get Real. The duo's debut single, "Mind Yo Bizness" / "Snuffaluffagus", was released in 2016. The duo's second single, "Jolean", was released in 2019.
In 2015, he released a collaborative album with
Carl Craig
Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...
, titled ''Unity''.
''
DJ Mag
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
'' has described Green Velvet as "a stalwart figure in both
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...
and
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
".
Personal life
In the mid 2000s, Green Velvet revealed on Myspace that he had become a
born-again Christian
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...
, after a serious overdose of a mixture of
magic mushroom
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include ''Psilocybe'', ' ...
s,
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...
Constant Chaos
''Constant Chaos'' is the debut studio album by Green Velvet. It was released on Music Man Records in 1999.
Critical reception
John Bush of AllMusic wrote, "Though none of the previous Green Velvet club favorites are reprised for his album, Caj ...
'' (1999)
* '' Whatever'' (2001)
* '' Walk in Love'' (2005)
* ''Unshakable'' (2013)
* ''Unity'' (2015)
* "Keep Movin'" (1991)
* "Brighter Days" (1992)
* "Chit Chat" (1992)
* "Percolator" (1992)
* "Feelin' Kinda High" (1994)
* "Flash" (1995)
* "Get Up Off Me" (1995)
* "H*rny" (1995)
* "Only 4 U" (1996)
* "The Stalker" (1996)
* "Answering Machine" (1997)
* "Lookin' for a Man" (1997)
* "Feelin'" (1998)
* "Nasty" (2001)
* "
La La Land
''La La Land'' is a 2016 American romantic musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress, respectively, who meet and fall in love ...
" (2001)
* "Genedefekt" (2002)
* "Coitus" (2002)
* "Sometimes I Do" (2003)
* "Midnight" (2004)
* "I Need U" (2004)
* "Nude" (2004)
* "Come" (2004)
* "Powered" (2004)
* "House-Werk" (2004)
* "Say U Will" (2005)
* "The Bathroom" (2005)
* "Temptation" (2005)
* "No S*x" (2005)
* "Cuz of You" (2005)
* "Shake & Pop" (2006)
* "Bigger than Prince" (2013)
* "Suga" (2015)
* "Mind Yo Bizness" / "Snuffaluffagus" (2016)
* "Keep Pushin' (Harder)" (2017)
* "Jolean" (2019)
* "Fuzion" (2019)
*"Unapologetic Raver" (2020)
*"Critical" (2021)
*"My Cheri" (2021)