1970s Jones began his musical career in the 1970s. His first recording session was at
Toronto Sound Studios under producer
Terry Brown. He signed contracts as a singer-songwriter with
CBS Songs and
ATV Music. In 1978, Jones joined CBS Canada's pop group,
Bond. He contributed to Bond's final recording, ''I Can't Help It'', as a keyboardist, guitarist, and vocalist. Following this, he toured with several bands, including rock cover band FUNN, the show band
Canada, and
Gary O's Kid Rainbow. In 1979, Jones partnered with Dee Long of
Klaatu, beginning a 15-year musical and business collaboration. After returning to
Canada, Long and Jones decided to close ESP Studio before moving to
London, England.
1980s In 1980, Jones, Dee Long and drummer Frank Watt designed, built, and operated
ESP Studios, a 16-track analogue MCI studio based around a
Fairlight CMI in
Buttonville,
Ontario. They worked on recordings for
Klaatu,
Alice Cooper,
Gary O',
Strange Advance,
Dalbello,
Rational Youth,
Bob Ezrin,
Red Rider,
Images in Vogue,
Dan Hill,
The Partland Brothers, and
Glass Tiger. In 1985, Jones and Long relocated to
London,
England. While there, Jones worked with
George Martin and
John Burgess of
Associated Independent Recording to set up Studio 5, the
Fairlight CMI computer/MIDI music studio at
AIR Studios on Oxford Street. At AIR Studios, Jones worked on projects for
Under Milk Wood,
Yes,
The Rolling Stones,
Demis Roussos,
Paul McCartney,
Terence Trent D'Arby,
Elton John,
The Outfield,
Mark Knopfler,
Willy DeVille,
Roy Wood and
Duran Duran until
AIR Studios relocated in 1992. Jones began working with
Duran Duran at AIR Studios, where he produced the
B-side single "This Is How A Road Gets Made" and programmed sampled sounds for their
Big Thing tour. Soon after, he worked full-time on their
Liberty album with producer
Chris Kimsey at
Olympic Studio in Barnes. During the Liberty sessions, Jones co-produced the promotional single, "
Burning the Ground", which consisted of samples of
Duran Duran songs from their
Decade: Greatest Hits album release.
1990s In 1990, Jones created samples for
John Cale for the album
Songs for Drella. He worked again with
Chris Kimsey on
Paul Rodgers's
Laying Down the Law and on the Rolling Stones'
Flashpoint, where he edited live tracks and created the intro piece, "Continental Drift". Jones performed with
Duran Duran at the
Royal Albert Hall in 1991 for
Vanessa Redgrave's
Jerusalem for Reconciliation concert for
UNICEF. In April 1992, he played with
Queen at
the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London. Between 1991 and 1993, Jones co-produced Duran Duran's
self-titled comeback record, commonly known as
the Wedding Album. During those years, Jones produced
Nýdönsk in
Iceland, and in November 1993, he performed with
Duran Duran for their
MTV Unplugged show in New York. In 1994, he worked on
Alan Frew's
Hold On for
EMI Canada, co-writing the track "So Blind," which won awards from the
Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada for the
Most Performed Song of 1995 and for reaching
Number 1. His next co-production with Duran Duran was the 1995 album
Thank You, which was voted #1 of the
50 Worst Albums Ever! by
Q in 2006. In 1996, Jones wrote and produced tracks for
Dan Hill's ''I'm Doing Fine'', including the Top 10 song "Wrapped". He also produced and performed on Hill's song "
Seduces Me" for
Celine Dion's multi-platinum album
Falling Into You. Additionally, he wrote and produced "These Strange Times" on
Fleetwood Mac's
Time album, featuring
Mick Fleetwood on lead vocals. At the
39th Annual Grammy Awards, Jones won the
Album of the Year as a producer on
Celine Dion's album
Falling Into You, where he produced and co-wrote the track "
Seduces Me". In 1998, Jones composed scores for the films
Stuart Bliss,
2000s Jones's solo album,
One Moment in Time, was re-released by
Victor Entertainment in
Japan in late 2001. This coincided with a
Kirin Beer advertising campaign, for which Jones sang lead vocals on the song, ''I'll Be There'', recorded for
Simon Le Bon's Japanese music company,
Syn Entertainment. In 2003, Jones and drummer
Steve Ferrone co-founded Drumroll Musicians Workshop studio in
Burbank, California. Joined by guitarist and producer Steve Postell, they worked on productions and sessions including Ferrone's
Farm Fur,
Keb' Mo', Emily Richards,
Edgar Winter,
Jeff Golub,
Sabian,
Dean &
Robert DeLeo,
Alex Ligertwood, and
Brian Auger. During this time, Ferrone and Jones composed the score for the film
Puzzle. In 2007, Jones began collaborating with
Richard Martinez and Meninos do Morumbi, a Brazilian school and social program for favela children, for the Music is Hope Foundation project. In November 2009, Jones released his second solo album,
Black N White, with drums by Steve Ferrone.
2010s Jones worked with composer Nick Wood and musician
Julian Lennon on the song "Children of the World". He also worked on "Hope" with
Tetsuya Komuro and the
Boys & Girls Club of Boston to aid victims of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Jones produced the 2015 album
Meninos Do Morumbi & Friends. In 2018, Jones co-produced the Joey Niceforo orchestral pop album
Priceless with
Steve Sidwell and Sam Reid. The album was recorded in London at
Abbey Road Studios by engineer Steve Price and conducted by Sidwell. ==Discography==