The good news is: there are still some damned good Blues bands out there, plugging away, playing their music and fervently hoping for some kind of breakthrough so that they can survive by doing the one thing they love most in life--play the Blues. Recently, I was fortunate enough to meet such a band. This was their second date at The Double Door Inn in Charlotte and hopefully, they will be back around soon to share their incredible sound. 
    But to get to the point, each year there are hundreds of bands competing to break out in this niche genre we call the Blues. It is definitely not an easy road, nor was it meant to be. Then, something may happen. It can be as simple as running into the right person at the right time that may be willing to invest time and dedication into helping your band. Sometimes, a magazine such as Blues Revue puts you on the sample CD in their issues. Sometimes, after trying for a long time, some musicians and bands are just at the right place at the right time. And if they are fortunate enough for that to happen, then they should certainly “seize the day.” I sincerely feel that the Jony James Band is approaching that point in their career quite rapidly now. 
    Recently, when I heard them play live, I thought to myself, “This is a band that can go the distance.” The band consists of lead vocalist and scorching guitarist Jony James. The drumming and some back-up vocals are handled  exceptionally well by Kent Leech (aka Boom Boom). Last but not least is Rod Horning on the bass who adds considerably to the rhythm section. James was originally born in New York but fortunately was raised in Chicago where he became enamored of some of the south Chicago Blues legends such as B.B King, Albert King, Otis Rush and Muddy Waters just to name a few. He started playing out early. At the age of 17,he played in Blues clubs in Chicago with other famous Blues players of the day including Eddie Taylor, Willie Williams and the well-known J.B. Hutto. James toured for a while with Hutto and later settled in Canada where he played with a Native American band.
    By the time the nineties rolled around, James returned to his birthplace, Buffalo, New York and begin playing and writing his own type of Blues which he called Survival Blues. I had the good fortune to do an interview with the band and when I asked James about how he defined “Survival Blues,” he replied, “For many people, survival is what it’s all about. For me particularly, the Blues is such a part of what I do that it literally is survival to me.” The band currently plays about 225 shows a year and recently received some industry recognitions. For the second year in a row, 
ARTVOICE MAGAZINE voted the band “Best Blues Band.” Also, at the WNY Blues Society Super Jam 2007, drummer Kent Leech received the Blues Beat Magazine “Muddy Waters Award” for DRUMMER of The Year. After hearing the concert that night, it is obvious to me that Jony
James deserves the title Legendary South Chicago Blues man, for that spot has definitely been lacking, as some of our older Blues musicians are no longer with us. Remember the name: Jony James. I feel sure that you will hear it again soon.
    On July 7, if you would like to catch this band live, check out the festival at Eagles Nest in Banner Elk, NC. Jony James & his band will share the stage with Devon Allman and Edward McCain. At 9:00 PM, there is a “SUPERJAM” planned which will include 4 of the best guitarists in the East. 

Hope to see you there!

    The best blues music is not played just for kicks. It should always be entertaining, of course, but the blues was born out of the deepest desire to escape from hardship - if only mentally, and merely as a temporary salve for survival.
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Blues Bites / Blues Revue
Jeff Calvin
    Jony James is one of the tastiest guitarists around. Sporting a Chicago education, he's thoughtful and melodic, never overplays, and has some slide action going, too. James proves a fine songwriter on In This World (Blue Wave 145). This is the thinking man's blues, deep and wise, but still a lot of fun; "Time Is All I Got" is a brilliant soul tune, while "Voices" is sweet, subtle funk. And that's just a start. Go buy it.

    This is no ordinary blues album. For a start Jony James has the kind of voice that oozes a life of struggle and reflection. His long linear Albert King style guitar lines are not the stuff of a dazzling guitar player with a million licks in his locker, but rather an adjunct to some of the most soulful and low down bluesy material it’s been my pleasure to hear for a very long time. 
    The whole album is a curious affair with enough raggedy moments and unconventional musical progressions to keep you guessing as to his next move. But such is the naked honesty and emotional turmoil of the material that really Jony could have cut this album completely on his own. The fact that his accompanying band have added much to arrangements of some beautiful material, speaks volumes for a line-up that reputedly gigs over 200 shows a year. 
    The opening “Hit The Street” asks the question ‘ are you a lonely lonely soul’? , and drips pure emotion. On the following slide led groove, “I Don’t Know Love”, Jony suddenly goes off into a different key and a seemingly oblique musical tangent but it’s a slow burner that after repeated plays makes sense like the missing piece of a jigsaw. 
    The band offers fine support throughout as Jony plays beautiful slide, and guest Mark Nanni adds some lovely piano embellishments. As with all this album, Joni leans into the groove and digs up some wonderful guitar tone colours, and expressive vocals. Three cuts in, he delivers a soul classic “Time Is All I Got (or haven’t got)”, a smoking soulful piece that redefines the notion of space between the notes, and he tops the whole piece with an achingly beautiful, soul drenched vocal delivery. Not since Wolfman Washington has a blues artist got so low down with his demons. 
    On “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind”, Jony adds some Duanne Allman sounding slide, as his peerless rhythm section of bassist Rod Horning and Ken “Boom Boom Leech swing, oh so gently. Perhaps this is the track that has people mentioning Hendrix as an influence, but vocally it’s closer to Luther Allison. Jony hails from Buffalo and after a couple of decades in Chicago – including being mentored by the likes of JB Hutto and Eddie Taylor – he’s returned back home, and in truth established his very own unique style. 
    For while the rest of the blues world is straining at the leash to present itself as a meaningful contemporary package, Jony is proving himself to be the real deal with an album that quite simply oozes soulful blues. 
    “Time Flies” is a flighty shuffle on which Jony’s croaky voice is a neatly counter pointed by the cleanest, solo’s imaginable, while Rod lays down a superb walking bass line, as Kent nails down the groove. JB Hutto would surely have smiled at his pupil’s raw attack. 
    The final cut “In This World” is almost a coda of the opening “Hit The Street”, in terms of its delicate soulful vocal delivery and emotional honesty. To these ears Jony James is a real blues find, imbued with every facet you could ever ask for ranging from an all too rare ability to convey his feelings in both his lyrics and his playing. Credit to Kim Simmons for engineering the session with real feel, and label boss Greg Spencer for running with the project. This is one of the most moving blues albums of the last few years. 

(Metro Times Detroit) I rarely pay attention to record company promo blurbs because, more often than not, their only intent is to shamelessly peddle a product. But even a card-carrying cynic like myself has to admit that Blue Wave head honcho Greg Spencer (who also produced this disc) knows whereof he speaks when he claims that what sets this blues album light years apart from the rest of the pack, aside from Jony James’ exemplary guitar playing with his telepathically tight band, are Jony’s original song compositions.
    Then again, anytime you see a blues album with a pseudo-psychedelic Alphonse Mucha cover, chances are you’re going to get something more than just your usual standard set of 12-bar workouts. So it comes as no surprise to hear Jony James eschew the dreaded shuffle and approach the blues as if they were invented yesterday and in need of a serious retooling today.
    And if that means daring to be different by adding a bit of organ-fueled R&B funk to the mix to spice things up (“Come Back Home”), then so be it. Because what makes In This World such a fresh offering is the paradoxical fact that it swings (“Time Flies”) with the kind of funky old-fashioned groove (“Voices”) that you used to regularly hear back in the ’70s (“I Don’t Know Love”).
    And don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking, either. Hell, I miss Hendrix too. And yeah, he sure was great in his day, wasn’t he? But that was 35 long years ago. And look where he is now.
    So stop living in the past! Take off that copy of Nine To The Universe and listen to Jony’s panoramic “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind” instead. Because there’s a new experience in town, and his name is Jony James. 

Jony James was born in Buffalo and raised in Chicago at the knee of such Chicago blues legends as J. B. Hutto and Eddie Taylor. 
He resettled in Buffalo about twenty years ago if you can call it settled. You see Jony and his band Rod Horning and Kent Leech, on bass and drums respectively, play over two hundred gigs a year all up and down the East Coast and wherever else the van will take them. All those shows together is evident in the musicianship on their new CD “In This World”. The powerful and tight rhythm section has to be one of the best in the country on the blues circuit, bar none. Jony’s sharp guitar playing and the hushed raspy sound of his voice makes for a soulful blues sound. Capturing in the studio a band known for its live performance is never easy but producers Greg Spencer with help from Savoy Brown’s Kim Simmonds succeed in capturing the bands sound. The nine tracks feature cuts such as the bouncy “Hit The Street”, the outstanding “I Don’t Know Love” with its Allman Brothers slide guitar sound and the heavy bottom sound on “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind”. Other tracks to check out include the shuffle blues number “Time Flies” and “Come Back Home”. “Voices” and “Let The Chips Fall Where They May” both of which appeared on the bands live release and are reprised here in the studio. “Time Is All We Got (Or Haven’t Got)” and the title cut “In This World” round out the disc.

Here’s one for the city that gave us hot wings and the bills.  The term “cutting edge” describes the T-in a number of ways-the music of the Jony James Blues Band.  James-given name pronounced like Johnny-sings through a shredded voice box while launching  steely notes that depending on the nature of the song land somewhere between the territories of Albert King and B.B King, two of his admitted idols.  The Buffalo, New York guitarists and his band-bassist Rod Horning and drummer Kent “Boom Boom” Leech-have logged over a thousand gigs together, horning in on a tight-knit-, hard edged, and yet very soulful sound all the while.  On their debut CD In This World, they present nine diverse originals in a way that tells you flat out that they’re into it.  With guest pianist Mark Nanni on “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind”, deep, swampy, funk is the order of the minute.  That’s by the fleet-fingered and very jazzy “Time Flies.”  On “Time Is All We Got (Or Haven’t Got),” they tour the chitlin circuit.  And there’s plenty more, like the percolating “Voices,” during which James shows he’s capable of makin’ magic on the guitar.  These guys are ready to break out.  Just watch.  James doesn’t have a site on the web just yet, but do visit www.bluewaverecords.com.  There’s information on James as well as the story of the artist-oriented blues label that’s made a home outside of Syracuse, New York for nearly two decades.  They offer an excellent 15th anniversary sampler that shows off quit well their past and present talent and the passion of the discriminating tastes of the label head Greg Spencer.