Who is Jill Jones? That question has confounded the public literally since the day she was born, and a nurse tried to foist the wrong newborn on her mother. It was the perfect kickoff to a life that has been distinguished by Jill's ability to adapt in myriad situations. As a solo artist, she has proven equally adept at stripped-down ballads, cutting-edge R&B and chart-topping dance tracks. Her raw talent and mercurial disposition have enabled her to collaborate as a writer and vocalist with an unparalleled array of fellow artists: Teena Marie, Prince, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nile Rodgers, Chris Bruce, and more. Her career hasn't always been easy to follow, but catching up with Jill never fails to delight—and surprise—her listeners.
"There's an emotion that I capture, and an honesty that comes across," says Jill apropos of her art. "Whether a song is ultimately horrible or a huge hit, it's still believable that I've been in that place I'm singing about. I'm quite the chameleon."
From the outset, Jill's life was unconventional. Her African American/Native American mother was a model and a singer; she also worked as a Playboy bunny, which undoubtedly influenced Jill's forward-thinking attitudes about sex and sensuality. Her Italian father was a jazz drummer. With the latter out of the picture early on, and the former often traveling for work, Jill was raised primarily by her grandparents, amidst her extended family in Lebanon, Ohio (a small town between Dayton and Cleveland). Early on, she recognized that being different has its pros and cons. "I had troubles with teachers at school keeping me separated from my cousins, because they were darker and I was lighter."
As an adolescent, Jill's life would be irrevocably influenced by another artist who could appreciate the vagaries of pigmentation: Teena Marie. In the '70s, Jill's mother managed the R&B icon, and after Jill relocated to Los Angeles, Teena became both her artistic mentor and the older sister she'd never had. "Teena started having me sing when I was fourteen. She taught me how to do harmonies, and I began doing backing vocals." Teena took Jill to concerts and introduced her to Venice Beach, but also made sure she got to and from school safely every day. "She gave me the childhood I didn't have." Most importantly, Teena encouraged Jill to develop her own gifts as a songwriter, and recorded a few of their early original collaborations on her Motown albums Lady T ("Young Girl in Love") and It Must Be Magic ("The Ballad of Cradle Rob and Me").
It was in her capacity as a member of Teena Marie's touring band that Jill first crossed paths with Prince, on the Dirty Mind tour in 1980. The two hit it off, kept in contact, and eventually Jill landed in Minneapolis. As a key player in the Paisley Park family during its heyday, she contributed her talents to albums including Prince's 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign 'O' The Times, the self-titled debut from Apollonia 6, and The Glamorous Life by Sheila E., and appeared in the films Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge. Prince also pushed Jill to keep developing her writing skills, although his approach to pedagogy was decidedly different: Jill recalls that while working on a song that would become one of her early solo singles, "Mia Bocca," the two telephoned Italian restaurants late at night, trying to cajole whomever answered the phone to teach them risqué phrases in Italian. In 1987, Jill Jones released her eponymous debut LP, an enduring favorite among Prince devotees to this day.
In the years that followed her affiliation with Paisley Park, Jill continued to expand her creative universe. She sang "You Do Me," the first single from Ryuichi Sakamoto's acclaimed 1989 album Beauty, and recorded "The Ground You Walk On" with producer Nile Rodgers for the soundtrack of Earth Girls Are Easy. Jones and Rodgers would work together again a few years later, when she toured Japan as a member of Chic, shortly before Bernard Edwards' death in 1996. She co-wrote and produced "The Great Pretender" for Lisa Lisa's 1994 solo album LL 77, and lent her voice to Still Life, the 1994 debut from Paul Humphreys' post-OMD ensemble The Listening Pool, and Italian jazz composer Paolo Rustichelli's 1996 full-length Mystic Man. Even projects that didn't see the light of day—an unreleased album for London Records fronting the group Baby Mother, demos with Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass—added to Jill's experience… and her mystique.
Jill's capacity for reinvention continued to serve her well as the 21st century unfolded. Two, her 2001 album with multi-instrumentalist Chris Bruce (Seal, John Legend, Sheryl Crow), showcased Jill Jones in a different light, featuring seven original songs and a stirring cover of Alex Chilton's "Kanga Roo" that eschewed studio chicanery in favor of stripped-down arrangements that emphasized her interpretive abilities. In 2004, she continued exploring that vein on Wasted, an album of acoustic songs with the Grand Royals. Yet she has continued to rock dance floors world wide, too, with club-friendly singles including a provocative reworking of the Blondie/Giorgio Moroder classic "Call Me" with superstar producer Todd Terry (2000), "Someone to Jump Up" with Funky Junction (2007), and her euphoric 2009 smash "Living for the Weekend."
Even as she puts the finishing touches on new dance material, Jill continues to look forward to and brainstorm projects: Another album with Chris Bruce; a collaborative EP with N'Dea Davenport; an interactive art installation. "I feel eternally youthful in my capacity for renewal," she admits. Her iPod teems with new grooves ranging from James Blake to Warpaint, and old favorites like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Cesaria Evora. She continues to draw inspiration from Federico Fellini and choreographer Pina Bausch, artists who explore the intricacies of interpersonal connections. And as of 2011, she is back in Los Angeles, the city where her musical career first took off. "Everything has come full circle, and I've got a great sense of my own bearings," she concludes. In other words, fans and critics can expect Jill Jones to keep audiences guessing for many more years to come.
