21st Century Bluesman Fernando Jones, a self-taught musician, is one of the most complete musicians and scholars of his generation globally. Mr. Jones was featured on “ABC7’s Someone You Should Know” and his music was featured on Dateline NBC. This June he can be seen on WYCC being interviewed by the publisher of Downbeat Magazine. From books to films, from sound recordings to theatre productions, his contributions to the Blues have been paramount. However, he began performing, playing the guitar, and writing songs when he was four years old. Jones has been called a Renaissance man. In Chicago, he’s the go-to guy for all things Blues. His incomparable body of work speaks for itself.
Jones has been recognized and celebrated by his peers and the press as being on the "cutting edge" of the Blues. This young man added new blood and a new perspective to the legacy of the Blues and its culture. As a composer, he has taken great pride in performing his original works publicly to help insure the evolutionary development of this musical movement. He is always lobbying for the proper recognition of this indigenous African-American art form and its people.
While refuting the many negative stereotypes that haunt this music, Jones is on a mission to show people the joy and beauty through academic implementations, lectures, and concert performances throughout the world. As a result, Jones' hands were photographed by National Geographic Magazine.
His book, I Was There When The Blues Was Red Hot, has been used as a resource by the likes of Newsweek, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Living Blues Magazine, London Times, Al-Jazeera, and radio stations such as ABC, BBC, CBS, CLTV, NBC, WTTW, and WGN have celebrated him for his playing style and unique perspective on the status of Black music in America.
As a playwright and actor, Jones received critical acclaim from the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, UIC Alumni Magazine, and received Jefferson and Black Theatre Alliance Award nominations. He is currently a professor at Columbia College teaching the nation’s first collegiate Blues Ensemble.
Fernando Jones is a trained actor from the ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago. This experience has led him to not only act, but direct and write plays, and do voice over work. As a voice actor, he's also written and produced 60 second radio ad spots.
Projects in the works:
Blues Kids CD, Fernando Jones’ Blues Loops (audio construction kits), “How To Teach the Blues Effectively” (book), the new Nellie Travis CD, and his own CD
•Fernando Jones is a professor at Columbia College Chicago, graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He's also a proud member of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the Chicago Area affiliate - CAABSE; Real Men Cook; the American Federation of Musicians (Local 10-208); Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) as a songwriter & publisher; the Chicago Blues Festival Planning Committee, and founder of Blues Kids of America with endorsements from: Fender Musical Instruments; Dean Markley Strings & Electronics; Jim Dunlop Guitar Picks & Accessories; Guitar Center.
I have access to record and produce commercially satisfactory recordings in-house.
I'm also a world-class Bluesman who plays guitar, bass, harmonica, percussions, and can write, arrange and produce licensed and royalty-free music.