Jon Cleary

Born in Cranbrook, Kent, Jon Cleary is a British musician based in New Orleans, where since the 1980s he has developed work rooted in rhythm and blues, funk, soul and the local piano tradition. A pianist, singer and songwriter, Cleary follows in the legacy of Professor Longhair and the city's great repertoires, with a percussive, highly rhythmic piano style that blends funk grooves, R&B phrasing and soul inflections. His solo discography includes Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice (1994), Moonburn (1999), Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen (2002), Pin Your Spin (2004), Go Go Juice (2015), Dyna-Mite (2018) and So Swell (2023). Performing as Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, a band that emerged from the New Orleans scene, he regularly plays venues such as Tipitina’s and the Maple Leaf Bar as well as numerous festivals. Over his career Cleary has also collaborated with or shared the stage with Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Eric Clapton and John Scofield, and he appears in the documentary Make It Funky!, devoted to New Orleans’s musical history.