Christopher Paul Jones

Christopher Paul Jones, credited on albums as Chris Jones, (November 11, 1958 - September 13, 2005) was an American musician (guitars, vocals) and composer. He was born in Reno, Nevada, but lived in Germany ever since he had joined the U.S. Army for three years.

Biography

At the age of five, Jones began playing the guitar. A few years later, he decided to become a professional musician and when he was 11 years old, he got admitted to a program at the "Peabody Conservatory of Music" in Baltimore, Maryland. There he discovered the of his younger years, Johann Sebastian Bach, to whom he dedicated his "Sonata in D". For this sonata, Jones was awarded the conservatory's "Young Composer of the Year" award.

Shortly thereafter, he discovered the blues and started listening to Robert Johnson, James Taylor and Little Feat.

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 like Sara K., Allan Taylor and Reinhard Mey. He also toured and recorded solo and with the Blues harp musician Steve Baker.

In August 2005, Jones was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in an advanced stage. He died on September 13, 2005, in Northeim, Germany.

Like many American musicians, he did not have any health insurance and was not able to pay the hospital fees, but friends and other musicians helped him out either personally or by staging charity concerts.

In 2000, Chris began to return to the states on a regular basis to visit various ailing family members, starting with his brother, Jan, who died shortly after. When Chris was on the east coast he would stay with friend Darin D'Onofrio and along with many shows at Darin's club, Otter Point Station, he would also play house concerts. With Allen Taylor, Chris played The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, amazing many of DC's elite with his ability to use a guitar to produce pure emotion. "If this is the end of the line, you ain't gonna hear me cryin', cause it's been a damn good run!" Christopher Paul Jones 2005

Music

Jones' repertoire encompassed various musical styles, among them blues, country, folk and rock'n'roll. Many of his songs can't be easily placed into a specific genre. Most of the time, he played handmade Lakewood acoustic guitars and dobros.

elected Discography

olo

* 1982 No looking back
* 1996 The dreaming pool
* 1996 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 & tunes

with Reinhard Mey

* 2002 Rüm hart
* 2004 Nanga parbat

with Sara K.

* 2002 Waterfalls
* 2002 Live in Concert
* 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

ee also

* Sara K.
* Stockfisch Records

External links

*http://www.masterpicker-chrisjones.com Memorial website
*http://www.bluenote-wf.de/sites/cj.html Memorial page of the "bluenote eV"
*http://www.stockfisch-records.de/stckff/sf_chrjon_e.html Chris Jones on Stockfisch Records
*http://www.chrisjones.de.vu