Feature

When Jon Cleary was a boy in Kent, England, his parents filled his young ears with the sound of the “Big Easy.” As he entered his teen years, Cleary couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and headed across the pond to NOLA to become a part of the music scene with which he had fallen in love.

His strict and strenuous work ethic and personal drive took him to the top, and he found himself backing artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal and Eric Burdon. In between touring with these musicians, he found time to start the Absolute Monster Gentlemen as well as tour with them.

Now, Cleary has released a four-song EP aptly-named “Do Not Disturb” and has plans to ring in the New Year with Dr. John at the Saenger before heading back out on the road with Raitt and trying to put together another Absolute Monster Gentlemen album in a town where Katrina’s wrath is still felt.

SC: Now that we’re two years down the road from Katrina, how would you describe the present state of the New Orleans music scene?

JC: Well, it could be healthy in some respects. There are a lot of musicians who were displaced that are unable to come back yet. A lot of people had to leave in a hurry and have their houses destroyed from all walks of life, but that number definitely includes a certain number of musicians.

You can go to the Livewire gig calendar, and you can see that there’s lots of stuff going on in town. Every night, there’s gigs going on all over town. So, it seems pretty good to me, but then I’m out on tour quite a great deal. Often when I do come home, I don’t go out. I just enjoy being back at home. So, I might not be the right person to be asking, really. Like everything else in New Orleans, it’s very hard to gauge the health of the city in all respects, really. It’s good in some respects and bad in others.

SC: You came to New Orleans by way of Kent, England. What brought you all the way to the Big Easy?

JC: The music, pure and simply. I had access to a lot of good records when I was a kid, being a part of a musical family. And so I was given a healthy diet of jazz and R&B music growing up. The New Orleans stuff really, really appealed to me. So, I came here for the music, really, when I was a teenager and ended up staying.

SC: You know, it’s hard enough trying to make it in New Orleans music scene. What was it like for you as an Englishman trying to earn respect as a local musician?

JC: Easy, really. You just have to get out there and play. I was lucky; I got to play with my idols, the guys who invented the stuff and the style: Earl King, Ernie Cato and Jessie Hill and people like that. They were very supportive. It didn’t really matter to them where you were from. Most of the musicians just seem to enjoy doing what they do. It’s not relevant, really, where you’re from just long as you can play. There’s several good Japanese musicians that live in New Orleans now, and all the local musicians speak very highly of them at the fact that they’re from Japan and not from New Orleans. It doesn’t bother anybody. So, it was very easy, and I was very fortunate because I knew the stuff and I knew the repertoire.

SC: You’re Bonnie Raitt’s official keyboardist, and you’ve played with numerous big named artists. What do you prefer more: being the front man or being the support?

JC: I’m lucky that I get to do both. It’s great being a front man, and I enjoy being a side man. There’s not so much pressure on you. Besides, you can concentrate more on what you’re playing without having to worry about fronting the show. So, it’s a privilege to do both, really.

SC: You just put out an EP called “Do Not Disturb.” I read where you recorded this four-song release in hotel rooms while on tour with various musicians. What was it like making this album?

JC: It’s always what I do anyway when I’m on tour. When I’m on tour, I always try to take a little recording set-up with me. I hear that if you’re a musician, you play music, and you think about music. If you got a machine to record, you can work anywhere, really. So, I would just grab the opportunity to record the B-3. After we finished the sound check, I used the stage B-3. When we have a dressing room with a piano in it, I would record the piano parts. When I get back to the hotel room, I play guitar and things and whatever I needed. It was just something I just did while I was on tour. It wasn’t done with the view of making a record, particularly. It was just sketches that just came out, and someone suggested that I put them out.

SC: When will you and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen be putting out another full-length?

JC: When we can find the time to work on it. We’re so busy on tour at the moment, and what’s happened in New Orleans has really upset the routines and schedules. Our guitar player, for example, is in Chicago. He’s there still. Everybody here is really getting shuffled after Katrina. The challenge is really just to find the time to do it. I’ve already starting preparing material. So, hopefully it won’t be too long. We’re overdue for a new record.

SC: When you play Mobile, you’ll be joining Dr. John for the ultimate New Year’s Eve celebration. What can we expect from this performance?

JC: I’m going to be playing solo piano to open up. Dr. John is playing with his full band. I never know what I’m going to play until I get up there, really. I just kinda feel it. I don’t really like to plan out gigs too much because they can often take a course of their own. So, it’s nice to be spontaneous. You can expect to hear all kinds of magic from Dr. John.

No doubt, he’s one of the finest piano players alive, in my opinion. He’s actually very unique, really, one of a kind. He’s always been one of my heroes since I was little kid listening to Dr. John records. He’s one of the reasons I picked up the piano. He’s really good. You’re going to expect a night a good New Orleans music.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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