Jon Cleary was born in London in 1962... not the first line you expect in a bio about a New Orleans piano great, is it?Not only that, but he’s a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer, as well. Guitar was his firstlove, startingin England at age 5, moving on to performing at 11 and graduating to working as a musician at 14. Atage 16 he formed ‘Delta Wing’ with renowned blues slide guitarist Roger Hubbard (of whom Muddy Waters said in1972: 'Roger Hubbard is as good as any bluesguitarist in the UK or the United States’.) This would be the first of hismany brushes with greatness.As a teen Cleary grew increasingly interested in funk-infused music and discovered that three such songs that heparticularly admired–LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” Robert Palmer’s version of “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,”and Frankie Miller’s rendition of “Brickyard Blues”–were attributed to Allen Toussaint as either the songwriter, theproducer, or both. Cleary’s knowledge of Toussaint’s workexpanded significantly when his uncle returned home tothe U.K., after a two-year sojourn in New Orleans, with a copy of a Toussaint LP and two suitcases full of NewOrleans R&B 45s.The match was struck. In 1981 Cleary flew to New Orleans for an initial pilgrimage and took a cab straight from theairport to the Maple Leaf Bar, a storied venue which then featured such great blues-rooted eclectic pianists asRoosevelt Sykes and James Booker. Cleary first worked at the Maple Leaf as a painter, but soon graduated toplaying piano—the instrument for which he is known today. His mastery of the New Orleans style landed him gigsplaying as a session musician in the bands of local legends Earl King, Johnny Adams, Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington,Snooks Eaglin, Ernie K-Doe, Jessie Hill and as a guitarist for Mac Rebennack (Dr John).