The 40th Telluride Jazz Festival welcomes New Orleans pianist and singer Jon Cleary as the Guest of Honor for the annual music festival held August 5-7, 2016 in Telluride, Colorado. Emphasizing the scope and importance of the Telluride Jazz Festival’s annual ode to the Big Easy, including a designated New Orleans Day celebration on Sunday, August 7th, Jon Cleary will appear multiple times throughout the weekend for performances and special events. Scheduled performances include a Jazz After Dark late night set at the historic Sheridan Opera House on Friday, August 5th, a main stage set on Saturday, August 7th, and an additional set with a very special guest on the closing day of the festival for New Orleans Day.
The New Orleans transplant by way of Kent, England has spent over two decades studying and amalgamating to the culture and lifestyle of New Orleans. In that time Cleary has also become recognized as one of the city’s most accomplished songwriters, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. In addition to contributing to albums for Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt and John Schofield, as well as performing with B.B. King and Ryan Adams, Cleary has released three critically acclaimed solo albums. The most recent offering Go Go Juice was produced by Grammy winner John Porter and ranked #1 in OffBeat Magazine’s Best Albums of 2015.
Cleary will be joined by his current working band the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. Included on the lineup of stellar accompanying musicians are they esteemed guitarist Derwin “Big D” Perkins, bassist Cornell C. Williams, and the drummer simply known as Jellybean. In addition to solo projects and working with acclaimed artists, Cleary also has two studio albums with the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. Rolling Stone‘s David Fricke penned of the Pin Your Spin album, “Cleary can be an absolute monster on his own, but Cleary’s full combo R&B is as broad, deep and roiling as the Mississippi river, the combined swinging product of local keyboard tradition, Cleary’s vocal-songwriting flair for moody Seventies soul and the spunky-meters roll of his Gentlemen.”
Cleary joins an impressive list of artist that previously were invited to be the Guest of Honor for the Telluride Jazz Festival. Included are Roy Hargrove, John Scofield, Ernie Watts, Bill Frisell, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Paquito D’ Rivera, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Poncho Sanchez, Ron Carter, Herbie Mann, James Moody, and many other jazz greats.
Early Bird tickets for the 40th Telluride Jazz Festival are available today. 3-Day Park Passes ($125), Weekend All-Access Passes ($175), Patron Passes ($675), Patron Cabanas ($2,000) Camping Per Person Passes ($69), Vehicle In Campground Passes ($79), and RV Passes ($99) will all be available Monday, January 11th, 2016 here. Additional artists, single day tickets, Jazz After Dark performers, and additional festival details to be announced very soon.