Oliver Jones

Pianist Oliver Jones has become something of a national treasure on the Canadian jazz scene over the past three decades. That's all the more remarkable considering the fact that this soon-to-be eighty year old didn't start making jazz recordings until he was in his 50s.

Oliver Theophilus Jones, OC CQ (born September 11, 1934 in Little Burgundy, Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian jazz pianist, organist, composer and arranger. Born to Barbadian parents, Oliver Jones began his career as a pianist at the age of five, studying with Mme Bonner in Little Burgundy's Union United Church, made famous by Trevor W. Payne's Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir. He continued to develop his talent through his studies with Oscar Peterson's sister Daisy Peterson Sweeney starting at eight years old. In addition to performing at Union United Church when he was a child, he also performed a solo novelty act at the Cafe St. Michel as well as other clubs and theaters in the Montreal area. "I had a trick piano act, dancing, doing the splits, playing from underneath the piano, or with a sheet over the keys."

Australian singer/songwriter, brother of Daniel Jones from Savage Garden.

Pianist Oliver Jones performs ten familiar Christmas songs on this quartet set with guitarist Richard Ring, bassist Dave Young and drummer Walt Muhammad. Jones sounds quite exuberant on some of the tunes, particularly "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Winter Wonderland" and "Sleigh Ride." A fun session recommended to collectors of Christmas jazz. ~ AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

At just 13 years old, the Québécois pianist Daniel Clarke Bouchard is already a sensation on the Montréal music scene. ATMA Classique presents Scènes d’enfants, his tailor-made debut solo recording, featuring music by Mendelssohn, Debussy, Haydn and Chopin. The hugely talented Clarke Bouchard is also a jazz enthusiast and joins his mentor - jazz great, Oliver Jones - on two jazz-inspired tracks performed on two pianos: an improvisation on Mozart’s Ah vous dirai-je maman variations, and Claude Léveillée’s Grande valse fofolle, a piece the two performed live at the 2012 Francofolies de Montréal.

It's not quite ultimate, but it is pretty close, containing three discs of prime Grace Jones, from her 1977 debut through the number one 1993 club single "Sex Drive." Unsurprisingly, since it is so extensive, The Ultimate Collection (a European release from Universal) goes too deep for casual Jones fans. It contains two versions of some cuts, like "My Jamaican Guy," included in its album and extended 12" mixes, and it does include quite a bit of material from her straightforward disco albums released in the '70s, when she had to be given much mainstream attention. Nothing of great significance is missing here.

Meet Oliver Nelson marked the leader recording debut of a considerable talent in tenor saxophonist Oliver Nelson (1932-1975). He was to win even greater acclaim later as a composer and arranger, but at 27 he was already a vastly experienced performer and a notably imaginative soloist, affectingly sensitive on ballads like Passion Flower and What s New, with a voluminous sound, full and fiery, on more driving material. For his debut he had simpatico company in trumpeter Kenny Dorham, so lyrical on Booze Baby Blues, and a shrewdly chosen rhythm section in pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor. It was a noteworthy beginning. Recorded almost two years later, Main Stem was much more like a typical Prestige blowing session of the time, heavily dependant on the wit and invention of the participants. Fortunately, Nelson again chose his colleagues well. Trumpeter Joe Newman is particularly good and pianist Hank Jones is his usual lucidly impeccable self in a swinging rhythm section with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Charlie Persip, while the leader, on both alto and tenor, produces an abundance of melodic, well-constructed solos over a satisfying session.