About the Group

The Jones O'Connor Group's genre spanning sound and intense live musical interplay has generated a core cult following which is quickly gaining momentum. Receiving huge praise from audiences and critics right from the start for their vibrant live performances and debut album Alpha, the band have reached audiences beyond the jazz scene with a passion for musical innovation and bold energy.
Their breathtaking group interaction and imaginative music has seen them play to packed venues at jazz events such as the London Jazz Festival and the Brecon Jazz Festival (where they were voted one of the best highlights two years running) as well as cutting edge touring venues including the Tunnels in Aberdeen.
With the release of their second album, 'A Crow for Every Crow', the group's sound has evolved a step further, and the boldness and originality of the album's nine tracks fully showcases the group's ability to create a sumptuous sonic landscape all of their own. Their music is atmospheric, witty, rich, cinematic, playful, and combines retro - electronics with futuristic sensibilities.

Described by Jazzwise as "excellent forward-thinking Brit jazz, hip and unpredictable with taste to spare," the Jones O'Connor Group are based in Cardiff and are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the increasingly vital Jazz scene in Wales.

The group consists of Paul Jones (Piano, Synthesisers), Richard Jones (Guitar/Electronics) Chris O'Connor (Double Bass) and Mark O'Connor (Drums). As much at home with post rock pioneers as they are with the modem wave of jazz innovators, the band moves freely between genres and have drawn comparison with bands such as Jaga Jazzist, Polar Bear, Led bib and Chicago Underground players such as Jeff Parker.
All four members of the band are busy performers in their own right, playing with some of the U.K jazz scenes brightest names. Paul and Richard were recipients of the P.R.S. Foundation award for best-unsigned artists in 2004. Richard, Chris and Mark all play in the Wales Jazz Composers Orchestra (alongside Huw Warren), and Paul was commissioned by the P.R.S Foundation to write them a large scale work along with his role as Composer in Residence at the Brecon Jazz Festival 06. Chris also leads a Brazilian folk group called Os Sambistas that features Mark and Richard; they recently collaborated with Bosco d'Olivera on an extensive Arts Council tour.

Paul recently packed out the Wales Millennium Centre with the inaugural performance of his new piano duo with Keith Tippett, (under who both he and Richard studied at the RWCMD) and was a recipient of the S.P.N.M's shortlisted Composer award in 2008. Other performance highlights for the group's members include working with Wycliffe Gordon, Jason Yarde, Jim Mullen, Bobby Wellins, Claude Deppa and Damon Brown amongst others, and playing at festivals such as the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall, the Bath Jazz Festival, The Glastonbury Festival, The National Experimentica Festival, The Sonic Arts Expo and the Womad festival in Caceres, Spain.

"A seemingly bottomless well of resources and influences."
Jazz Views