Buddy Guy said that Fernando Jones is “one in a million trying to get to the bottom of the barrel of the Blues,” and Willie Dixon told him to “keep the Blues going.” The incomparable Fernando Jones is a 21st Century Renaissance man, professor of music at Columbia College Chicago,  and the 2008 Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipient (education). Jones, a self-taught musician, is one of the most complete Bluesmen and scholars of his generation with a focus on the next generation. He has been featured on the Travel Channel’s “America the Wright Way” Series (worldwide broadcast, seen in over 125 million households, Eric Clapton’s Crossroads DVD, ABC7’s Someone You Should Know. Dateline NBC, and was  interviewed by the publisher of Downbeat Magazine for Musicians Studio. From books to films, from sound recordings to theatrical productions, his contributions to true American art form have been paramount. However, he began performing, playing the guitar, and writing songs when he was only four years old. In Chicago, the Blues Capital of the world, he’s the go-to guy for all things Blues. His 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. He adds 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 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 its beauty through academic implementations, lectures, and concerts globally. 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 the Discovery Channel, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, Living Blues Magazine, London Times, and Al-Jazeera. Radio stations such as ABC, BBC, CBS, CLTV, NBC, WTTW, NPR and WGN have celebrated him for his playing style and unique perspective on the status of Black music in America.

        Fernando Jones holds professional memberships with the National Alliance of Black School Educators, Real Men Cook, the American Federation of Musicians (Local 10-208); Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the Chicago Blues Festival Planning Committee, and is the founder of Blues Kids of America with full endorsements from Fender Musical Instruments and Jim Dunlop Guitar Picks & Accessories.

Current Hot Projects: Publishing an article “How to Teach the Blues Effectively: Improving Literacy Through Music” for the Journal of Popular Music

 

Projects in the works / Released 2009: American Bluesman, Fernando Jones’ Blues Loops (Instrument construction kit) and the 20th Anniversary  re-issue of “I Was There When The Blues Was Red Hot” with audio. 

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