More than a decade ago, Virginia Living Magazine flew me to London to interview Virginia's great lost jazz diva, and to tell her story for the first time. The feature article is now (finally) online, and designed to complement my current Feb. 2018 cover feature in the magazine on the history of Jazz in Virginia.
I'm ecstatic that it is finally online because this feature profile on Salena Jones is one of my personal favorites, and Ms. Jones was one of the most fascinating people I've ever had the pleasure to profile. You'll understand why when you read the piece.
Saxophone legend Richie Cole has called Salena Jones “one of the greatest singers alive,” and she’s toured and sung with Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Ray, Tom Jones, Antonio Carlos Jobim; been backed by ace sessioneers such as Steve Gadd, Kenny Burrell; was responsible for giving “King” Curtis—a.k.a. Curtis Ousley—his nickname. Formerly known as Joan Shaw (her given name) she's also a genuine female R&B pioneer—her early recordings on labels like Savoy, Gem and Jaguar, leading revved-up “orchestras” like Paul Williams’, Russ Case’, Luther Henderson’s and Danny Small’s, didn't spawn big hits, but they showed her undeniable vitality as a creative pre-rock innovator.
In the mid '60's, after releasing two major label albums as Joan Shaw, she would boldly change her act, her whole persona, and say goodbye to her country, transforming herself completely into Salena Jones. “Before I went, the march to Washington had just happened," she told me. "Kennedy had just been shot. I looked at myself and said, ‘What am I going to do here—with my career? I’m only one person, what can I do?’ The best thing to do is to go to another world.”
Read my profile of Salena Jones here.
And for more on her music, go here.
