KEVIN BUJO JONES

Kevin Jones is a percussionist, band leader, producer, educator. A native of Englewood, New Jersey, Kevin grew up in a household immersed in jazz, soul, gospel and blues, from Charlie Parker and Lou Rawls to Nat King Cole and Mahalia Jackson, along with the pop and R&B legends of the times. Reportedly, Kevin’s grandmother, Maggie Walker Jones, once played with (and maybe even recorded with) Bessie Smith. The arts of all types were nurtured in the Jones household and piano lessons were a requirement, not an elective.

Jones traces his percussion expertise to the age-old ‘academy of the streets.’ Over the years Kevin has evolved an increasingly comprehensive approach to percussion, commanding respect from artists such as the Isley Brothers, Whitney Houston, Winard Harper, and Reggie

Workman.

At age 10 began Kevin showing interest in playing hand drums. Neighborhood drummers were prone to testifying on front lawns and park benches, hand drums and various percussive enhancements in tow; their massaging, pulsating, skin-on-skins thoroughly hooked the

impressionable youngster. Among these master drummers were Marvin “Bugalu” Smith (Sun-Ra, Archie Shepp, Mal Waldron), Earl “Buster Smith (Eric Dolphy,Sun-Ra), Karl Potter (The Isley Brothers, Pino Daniele) and Babatunde Lea (Pharoah Sanders, Leon Thomas), who all spent time with and made a long-lasting impression on the young Kevin’s life.