Biography of Dave Jones

The Dave Jones Trio formed recently following Dave's return to South Wales, having worked as a pianist on the East Anglia, London and South East jazz scenes for around 20 years. During this time he performed at numerous festivals including Brighton, Edinburgh, Soho Jazz, Canterbury, Cambridge, Norwich and Kent. He has also appeared at the Vortex, Dean Street Pizza Express, The Bass Clef, The Spice of Life (London), 33 Arts Centre (Luton), The Hawth (Crawley), Komedia (Brighton), the National Portrait Gallery, and most of the major concert hall foyers in London including the Barbican, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Royal National Theatre. Dave's many pick-up gigs have included performances with guests such as Jim Mullen, Alan Barnes, Mornington Lockett, Dick Pearce, Dave Cliff, Steve Waterman, Dave O'Higgins, Karen Sharp, Robin Jones, Asaf Sirkis and Gilad Atzmon.

Dave has recorded a number of sessions for BBC National Radio at Maida Vale Studios London and Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, which were subsequently broadcasted by Dave Gelly and Digby Fairweather. Also, he has performed several times on S4C TV with Tomos Williams and Daniel Williams of 'Burum'. Dave's early CD releases include the 1996 debut album 'Have you met Mr. Jones?' (PARCD507), featuring and produced by drummer/percussionist Robin Jones. This was followed in 1999 by an album for Vivid Records (recorded at the Gateway Studios in Kingston), featuring Herbie Flowers on bass.

In recent years, Dave's festival appearances have included the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, the Guardian Hay Festival (for Sky Arts), Brecon International Jazz Festival, and Llandeilo Festival (with the National Big Band of Wales).

The London launch of the Dave Jones Trio 'Impetus' CD at the Vortex in July 2009 saw the formation of a new trio, with Ashley John Long on bass and Lloyd Haines on drums. This trio is featured on the critically acclaimed 'Journeys' album, which was released on Fri 11 June 2010. 'Journeys' features a number of guests including Lee Goodall (saxes), Gareth Roberts (trombone), Tomos Williams (trumpet), and the Mavron Quartet.

'Impetus' (2008) by the Dave Jones Trio was comprised entirely of Dave's compositions, and featured Mark O'Connor on drums and Chris O'Connor on bass who also contributed to the arrangements. This trio has also recorded and performed as part of the jazz/folk band 'Burum'.

Dave has featured on albums by other bands such as 'Alawon' by Burum, and as pianist/arranger on the album 'Bliss' by vocalist/bassist Miranda Sykes who is currently touring with the folk group 'Show of Hands'.

Prominent engagements in 2011 included the Oxford Jazz Festival, a short tour of arts centres in Ireland and a date at the Aberjazz Festival with the newly formed Dave Jones Quartet. Dave also performed at the Welsh Proms with '3 Square', at the Pontypool Jazz Festival with the Dave Jones Sextet, and at the Porthcawl International Jazz Festival as the Dave Jones Trio with Lee Goodall.

N.B. See the 'Artist reviews' and 'Artist CDs' sections for the latest reviews of the new 'Journeys' album, which was chosen by Jack Massarik as his Jazz CD of the week in the London Evening Standard (13/08/2010). There's also an excellent live review by Chris Parker of Dave's Vortex gig on 20 July 2009, great reviews of the 2008 'Impetus' CD, and also quotes from reviews of Dave's debut album 'Have you met Mr.Jones?'