RICKIE LEE JONES

In 1979 after winning the Grammy for Best New Artist, Jones was hailed by one critic as a "highly touted new pop-jazz-singer-songwriter" and another critic as "one of the best -- if not the best -- artist of her generation." In addition to the album’s brilliant songs--including the exceptional "On Saturday Afternoons in 1963," the haunting "Last Chance Texaco," and the popular "Chuck E’s in Love" - Jones was becoming a figure whose life was bearing a great deal of emulation by young women and men who found, in her deep and personal and idiosyncratic life and work, a model for the new generation of hipster.

Jones’ vocal work also hearkens back to the great singer-song stylists of an earlier generation, ranging from Billie Holiday to Laura Nyro who were intent on making us absorb reality from their lived point of view.

In 1983, Jones released her mini-LP, Girl at Her Volcano. The album was a rich selection of pop standards (the Left Banke’s "Walk Away Renee") and jazz standards (Billy Strayhorn’s "Lush Life").

1995’s Naked Songs is perhaps the best live album ever made due to its extraordinary intimacy: you can hear the audience hanging on every note. Recorded over two nights at the Filmore in San Francisco, the album is comprised entirely of Jones penned-tunes, including astounding renditions of "The Magazine," and "Last Chance Texaco." The accretion of experience on Naked Songs, vulnerabilizes the listener, just as Jones’ Ghostyhead (1997) is an amalgamation of her skills as a songwriter, song stylist, and engineer of sound.

Released on the independent V2 in October 2003, The Evening Of My Best Day featured influences from jazz, Celtic folk, blues, R&B, rock, and gospel, and spawned a successful and lengthy spurt of touring. Renewed interest in Jones led to the three-disc anthology Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology, released through reissue specialists Rhino in June 2005. A lavish package, the alphabetically-arranged release featured album songs, live material, covers, and demos, and featured essays by Jones as well as various collaborators, as well as tributes from artists including Randy Newman, Walter Becker, Quincy Jones, and Tori Amos.

The sessions were recorded at an artist's loft on Exposition Boulevard in Culver City. When Cantelon could no longer finish the project, Jones picked it up as her own record and hired Rob Schnaf to finish the production at Sunset Sound in 2007, and the result was the The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard, released on the independent New West Records in February 2006. It included "Circle in the Sand," recorded for the soundtrack to the film Friends With Money (2006), for which Jones also cut "Hillbilly Song." The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard debuted at #158 on the Billboard 200 and #12 on the Top Independent Albums tally. Writer Ann Powers included this on her list of Grammy-worthy CDs for 2007.

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