Mike Jones

Specifically, Mike Jones performs music from what’s become known as the Great American Songbook for more people each year than any jazz pianist in the world. Really. This is because, as music director for the enduringly popular Penn & Teller Show in Las Vegas and other venues across the globe, he plays these classic standards in the “warm-up” hour – and during and between the onstage magic – for the millions of visitors who attend the show. In a career spanning four decades, Jones has wowed audiences with his virtuoso skills and stylistic flair – nowhere to greater acclaim than at the sold-out houses in New York that marked Penn and Teller’s 2015 six-week return to Broadway.

In general? Mike Jones plays the piano as if had more than 88 notes and as if each of his fingers were Usain Bolt.

How He Does It Mike Jones is a thoroughly modern throwback to what used to be called the “two-handed pianist,” which is not as obvious as it sounds. The term describes a jazz pianist who makes full use of the entire range of the instrument, and whose left hand prowess matches that of his right. Early jazz styles such as Stride and classic Swing offer prime meat for such virtuosic pianists, and when it comes to most effectively demonstrating the durable beauty of these idioms, Mike Jones has drawn plenty of praise as the modern master of these styles. Small wonder, since Jones used two of history’s greatest such pianists – the peerless Oscar Peterson and the latter-day stride exponent Dave McKenna – as his early models.

To quote one review: “While Jones’s right hand reels off vertiginous runs that rival the pyrotechnics of such legends as Oscar Peterson, Earl Hines, and Art Tatum, his left spins elaborate walking bass lines – at top speeds they turn into manic stride patterns – that seem less like accompaniment than a separate and completely satisfying performance.” That’s how he does it. And then he throws in a running commentary of quick-witted musical allusions – everything from old torch songs to The Twilight Zone theme – as a coup de grace.

For more than 30 years he’s dazzled listeners, in performance and on celebrated recordings, with displays of solo pianistic wonder. When his hands are moving faster than the eye can follow, he approximates the splendor of a full jazz orchestra.

How He Got Here Born and raised in Buffalo, NY – the only American city named after a huge smelly mammal – Jones attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and after college he remained in the city, working with such eminent local players as Herb Pomeroy and Gray Sargent. After significant East Coast performances, appearances at the Floating Jazz Festival on the S.S. Norway and the Queen Elizabeth ll, and a series of recordings that established him as a world-class pianist steeped in the pre-bop jazz tradition, Jones relocated to Las Vegas. There he caught the ear of Penn Jillette who, in 2002, brought Jones onboard for the nightly Penn and Teller show at Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Mike Jones- "Stretches Out" "As a jazz pianist, Jones commands a lavish arsenal of formidable weapons: the rumbling bass lines of an Erroll Garner or Dave McKenna, the meteoric right-hand phrasings of an Art Tatum or Bud Powell, the awesome chops of an Oscar Peterson or McCoy Tyner, the natural rhythmic swing of a Hampton Hawes or Horace Silver, the unerring taste and sensitivity of a Kenny Barron, Hank Jones or Bill Evans." - Jack Bowers, Cadence Magazine "Even if pianist Mike Jones provided nothing but the keyboard virtuosity for which he is developing a national reputation, he would be well worth hearing. But Jones brings much more to this tour de force recording, which places him in a league with such superior solo pianists as Dick Hyman and Dave McKenna." -Howard Reich, Los Angeles Times

"The Most remarkable pure technique of any piano player working in jazz today...over the course of three solo albums, Mike Jones has quietly established himself as the successor to the stupefyingly virtousic Oscar Peterson, in much the same way Peterson took the baton from the previously peerless Art Tatum in the 1950's." -Neil Tesser,

"Mike Jones is a true virtuoso, a two-handed pianist who often recalls Oscar Peterson while throwing in some heated stride now and then, along with basslines worthy of Dave McKenna" -Scott Yanow, Cadence Magazine

"He displays a ferociously driving independence of right and left-hand lines...and a reflective lyricism tastefully distant from the floral bouquets of other chops-endowed pianists." -Jack Sohmer, JAZZ TIMES

"He is after (Dave) Mc Kenna, the great living Mainstream Monster of jazz piano, with great taste in standards and a sense of swing strong enough to rock the reading room of the British Museum. And, incredibly, he's getting better as he gets older." -Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News

"The right hand is constantly in motion, the wellspring of perceptive ideas lavish and overflowing, while the left hand lays down a heavy bass line that would be the envy of many a master of the upright." -Jack Bowers, All About Jazz

"Although he can also rip Tatum-esque lightning bolts and cross - chop the format like Oscar Peterson, speed is not really at issue. It's Jones's playful and original treatments of the oldies that make his choices fresh and engaging...his syntax is always polite and his melodies correct." -Fred Bouchard, Downbeat Magazine, The Boston Phoenix

"To put Mike Jones in perspective, one would only have to look around the room during his performances at the 1999 Floating Jazz Festival. Among the people who came to hear him play night after night, were Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander, Shirley Horn and Junior Mance; not exactly folks who are easily impressed...he interprets great songs, with an uncanny sense of melody, innovation, and unfathomable technique...he's simply incredible!" -Jon Bates

Show less

Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Las Vegas

Clinic/Workshop Information

Mike talks about the history of jazz piano including demonstrations of different styles, and most specifically about solo playing. Students are encouraged to play in a master class environment, with Mike providing insight and helpful ideas to improve their playing.