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Jill Jones
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In a nutshell
Jill Jones is a singer/songwriter who started her career in the early 1980s as a back-up singer for Teena Marie.
Prince hired Jill Jones (“JJ”) as a back-up singer on his 1999 album, had her featured in the videos for the songs 1999 and Automatic, and gave her a part in the film Purple Rain.
In 1987, Jill Jones's self-titled debut was released on Prince's Paisley Park record label to critical acclaim. The album's first single "Mia Bocca" became a hit in Europe.
In the '90s, Jones collaborated with Japanese avant-garde musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nile Rodgers/Chic, the Indigo Girls, and others.
In 2001, Jill Jones released her second album titled “Two”, which was a collaboration with instrumentalist Chris Bruce.
Last Winter Jill Jones released a brand new dance single titled "Someone To Jump Up", produced by Funky Junction and Brinsley Evans.
Biography
Jill Jones was born in a small town in Ohio to a black mother and an Italian father.
At the age of 17, she left home to pursue her dream of becoming a professional songwriter/singer. Her first job was as a backing singer for her idol Teena Marie, who was managed by her mother. Marie was the opening act for Prince on the 1980 Dirty Mind tour, which is where Jones and Prince met for the first time. Prince was very impressed and kept in contact with Jones. In 1982 Jones was invited by Prince to Sunset Sound sessions, where she sang on several 1999 tracks, notably "Lady Cab Driver". In 1983, at Prince's recommendation, she moved to Minneapolis where she began work on a solo album.
Jill Jones' self-titled album was released on Prince's Paisley Park Records on May 26th, 1987 , almost four years after work had commenced on the project. Prince was listed as co-writer with Jones on four tracks ("Mia Bocca", "G-Spot", "All Day, All Night", and "For Love") and produced most of it. The album contains some of his best work from his musically most innovative and exciting period. The album was warmly received in Europe, however, despite its obvious commercial potential Jones' album failed to enter Billboard's pop and black Top 100 charts and none of the three singles, "Mia Bocca", "G-Spot", and "For Love", charted in the U.S.
Jones went to England in the autumn of 1988 to work on songs intended for a second Paisley Park album which was never completed.
In the early '90s, Jones collaborated with Japanese avant-garde musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nile Rodgers/Chic, the Indigo Girls, and others. However, she had been quiet throughout the latter 1990s until it was announced that an acoustic LP was to be recorded with Chris Bruce. The full-length album was released in 2001 and was titled “Two”.
Last Winter Jill Jones released a brand new dance single titled "Someone To Jump Up", produced by Funky Junction and Brinsley Evans.
(source : Paul Clifford, All Music Guide / edited by Quentin Geerinckx )
