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Peter Jones

Author, journalist, singer, composer, promoter.

About Me

The only jazz record in my parents' house was The Unforgettable Nat King Cole. I loved it, and knew every word to every song. But I did not get seriously involved in the music until quite late in life, after messing around for years in rock bands. My gateway drug to jazz was Steely Dan's Aja.

For six years I played bass in a little pub band and attended adult jazz college, followed by a number of jazz summer schools. At gigs I sometimes sang one or two tunes to give the main singer a rest, and soon noticed that I was getting a good reaction. At this point I left the band and began to sing instead. I soon began putting my own lyrics to jazz tunes that didn't have any, and progressed to writing my own songs. I'm still doing it, and have now recorded five albums - three under my own name and two as leader of a jazz-pop project called Zoöphyte.

Since becoming a singer I have also contributed more than 200 articles to jazz publications and websites, and written two biographies of jazz singers: the first - This is Hip - was about Mark Murphy, the second - This is Bop - about Jon Hendricks. Nightfly, my biography of Donald Fagen came out in September 2022.

My Jazz Story

I agree with Bill Evans: Jazz is not a what, it's a how.

My House Concert Story

Now presenting jazz concerts in Richmond, London, at a club called Off the Rails, every second Sunday of each month.