Michael Jones (Canadian musician)
{{Short description|Canadian new-age pianist and composer (1942–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|image = Michael Jones portrait by V Tony Hauser.png
|caption =
|name = Michael Jones
|image_size =
|background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
|origin =
|birth_date = 1942
|death_date = {{death date and given age|2022|01|19|79|df=y}}
|instrument = Piano
|genre = New-age
|occupation = Composer, Pianist, Author, Lecturer
|years_active = c. 1980–2022
|label = Pianoscapes, Inc.
Narada
|website = [http://www.pianoscapes.com/ www.pianoscapes.com],[http://www.thesoulofplace.com/www.thesoulofplace.com]
}}
Michael Jones (1942 – 19 January 2022) was a British-born Canadian new-age pianist and composer, known for his improvisational new age performance style.{{cite book|title=Free to be Creative at the Piano|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HfKJ5o1lnxMC&pg=PA157|publisher=New Age Piano Lessons|pages=157–|id=GGKEY:42ZU363U7R3}} He was also a writer and leadership educator.
Personal life
Jones was born in Surrey, England, and grew up in Kitchener and later Queenston, Ontario.[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-age-music-emc/ "New Age Music"]. The Canadian Encyclopedia. He died on 19 January 2022, at the age of 79{{Cite news |date=21 January 2022 |title=This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment |language=en-US |work=The Orilla Sun Online |url=https://sunonlinemedia.ca/2022/01/21/this-week-in-art-culture-entertainment-157/ |access-date=24 January 2022}} at Mariposa House Hospicehttps://www.MariposaHouseHospice.com {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} in Orillia, Ontario.
Career
Jones' first album, Pianoscapes, was released on the newly formed Narada record label.{{cite magazine|author=Maria Armoudian|title=Look for these New Age labels|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tw0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51|date=6 April 1996|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=51–|issn=0006-2510}} The album sold more than 100,000 copies.{{cite magazine|title=Major labels move quickly|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA36|date=25 October 1986|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=1–|issn=0006-2510}} Since then he has released more than a dozen albums of piano music."Music earns Michael Jones a second career". Orillia Sun, 26 April 1988, page 4 In 1990 he conducted a concert tour.
He published three books about creative leadership; the most recent is The Soul of Place: Re-imagining Leadership Through Nature Art and Community. Jones was a columnist for the business and leadership website, Management - Issues. He often combined the two sides of his career by performing his compositions at leadership conferences.
In 2015 Jones co-chaired the Mariposa Roundtable, an initiative to improve the economy of Orillia through increased tourism.[http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/10/08/orillias-industrial-economy-is-a-thing-of-the-past-group-focusing-on-future-opportunities "Orillia’s industrial economy is a thing of the past; group focusing on future opportunities"]. By Dave Dawson, Orillia Packet & Times, 8 October 2015
Original discography
- Michael's Music (Pianoscapes, 1981)
- Reissued as Pianoscapes (Narada, 1983){{cite book|title=Mother Jones|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCEyAQAAIAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Foundation for National Progress|page=62}}
- Windsong (Antiquity, 1983)
- Seascapes (Narada, 1984){{cite magazine|title=Reviews: Pop - Recommended|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DiUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT101|date=12 January 1985|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=101–|issn=0006-2510}}
- Wind and Whispers (Sona Gaia, 1985)
- Solstice (Narada, 1985){{cite book|author=Keith Tuber|title=The New Age of David Lanz|work=Orange Coast Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA356|date=December 1988|publisher=Emmis Communications|pages=356–|issn=0279-0483}}
- Sunscapes (Narada, 1986){{cite magazine|author=Linda Moleski|title=Grass Routes|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT56|date=30 August 1986|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=56–|issn=0006-2510}}
- Amber (Narada, 1987)
- After the Rain (Narada, 1988)
- Magical Child (Narada, 1990)
- Michael's Music (Narada, 1990)
- Morning in Medonte (Narada, 1992)
- Air Born (Narada, 1994)
- Touch (Narada, 1996)
- The Living Music (Narada, 1998)
- Echoes of Childhood ( Pianoscapes, 2002)[http://mainlypiano.com/reviews/michael-jones-almost-home-review-by-michael-debbage "Album Review: Almost Home"]. Mainly Piano, Review by Michael Debbage
- Almost Home (Pianoscapes, 2006)
- Deep Song (Pianoscapes, 2015)
Compilation appearances
- The Living Music (Narada 1998)
- 20 Years of Narada Piano
- Grand Piano (Narada Anniversary Collection)
- Pianoscapes The Deluxe Edition (Narada 2002)
Books
- {{cite book|author=Michael Jones|title=Solos and Sketches for New Age Piano|date=1 January 1991|publisher=Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation|isbn=978-0-7935-0059-8}}
- Creating an Imaginative Life Trafford (1995, 2006) {{ISBN|978-1-57324-011-6}}
- Artful Leadership, Awakening the Commons of the Imagination Trafford (2006) {{ISBN|1-4120-8578-0}}
- The Soul of Place:Re-Imagining Leadership Through Nature, Art and Community Friesen Press (2014) {{ISBN|9781460237960}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p2627|label=Michael Jones}}
- [http://www.pianoscapes.com/ Pianoscapes]
- [http://www.thesoulofplace.com/ Thesoulofplace]
- [https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/michael-jones-obituary?id=40177960 / Obituary, The Globe and Mail]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Michael}}
Category:21st-century Canadian male musicians
Category:21st-century Canadian pianists
Category:Canadian male pianists
Category:Musicians from Ontario