He’s standing in the middle of his sitting room, in his big old funky house in an old part of New Orleans. Doing a bit of personal admin – cleaning, and a spot of DIY.
“I just finished making a new record so I’m actually enjoying the luxury of doing some work around the house. I’m between a record and a tour, so I get to do some non-musical stuff. There’s always something to fix around here!”
Cleary will be in town at the end of the month for The Legends of New Orleans tour. Backed by the Philthy Phew, the show will be “a stripped down lineup of piano, drums, and upright bass. The drummer is a guy called Jellybean”, and if for no other reason than that, I will be going to the show. “Matt Parine is one of the top session bass players in New Orleans. We’re gonna mix it up it’ll be different every night.
Jon Cleary is cool. Real cool. Casually cheeky too, with a wonderful speaking voice – the type that feels like you’re getting a gentle shoulder rub through the telephone line.
“I don’t really know what I’m going to play until I walk up onto the stage that particular evening. That’s usually when the best stuff happens. If you’ve got good musicians who’ve played a million gigs, and are very confident, you can just walk up on stage without saying a word and just start playing and they’ll find a way of falling into it.”
It’s the sort of talent that is enviable of in the most positive way. No set list required. Put the man in front of a piano, and just sit back and smile. “New Orleans has a repertoire, of grooves and lyrics and stuff, and if you have good musicians from New Orleans, you can pretty much put a band together out of any of the cats from around there, just walk them up on stage and they’ll be able to do a show for you.”
Cleary was born in England, but came to an early fork in the road. “I had wanted to get to New Orleans since I was a kid. I grew up hearing stories from family members who loved New Orleans music and had lived there at one time or another so I just decided I would go out there as soon as I could. When I left school, it was a choice between going to Art College or New Orleans, and I chose the latter. Never looked back really, I love it.”
Cleary is no stranger to Australia, having first come here in the late ‘80s, and he likes it.
“Friends that I made on my first trip were musicians based out of Sydney and I was pretty amazed by the standard of musicianship of the Australians and made lots of friends there. The whole country’s got a very interesting style. For me it’s Kind of like a cross between America and England. I just love touring. It’s a privilege. I love playing music and I love travelling and I get paid to do it in the company of world-class musicians.”
He’s a busy man too, consistently juggling several projects at a time. “If you can have a balanced diet (of different bands), it’s good in every respect.”
BY MICK RENNIE
