Jim Jones All Star Band at Berlin Under A

British rocker Jim Jones has specialized in American roots rock and roll since his first band. He launched his Motor City-influenced garage rock with Thee Hypnotics, a band he co-founded in 1985 in High Wycombe, a town some 30 miles from London, England. The band split in 1999, after which Jones furthered that sound fronting Black Moses until he formed the Jim Jones Revue in 2007. Since 2015, Jones has been leading Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind.

Tonight at Berlin Under A, Jim Jones performed with seasoned musicians he assembled less than two weeks earlier: guitarist Gordon Lawrence of Beechwood, keyboardist Benny Harrison of Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, saxophonist Paula Henderson of the Burnt Sugar Arkestra,  harmonica player Dennis Gruenling, bassist Cynthia Ross of the B-Girls, ElectraJets, and New York Junk, and drummer Jim Sclavunos of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Bob Bert of Lyndia Lunch's Retrovirus, Wolfmanhattan Project, and Jon Spencer & The Hitmakers sang several songs with Jones at the end of the set. The band had one rehearsal, only a few hours before show time. Nevertheless, the performance succeeded in all it was intended to be, which was a collection of musicians playing well and an audience enjoying a rock and roll party. The set consisted of vintage blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll songs by Slim Harpo, the Coasters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Jimmy Castor, Norman Greenbaum, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Velvet Underground, the Cramps, and the Stooges. The songs averaged about 50 years of age, yet Jones' integral commitment to keeping this roots music alive made them sound timeless. His gritty vocals gave the songs a raw and intense delivery. Jones is little known in America, but he sure knows how to punch up American music.