Rickie Lee Jones

Hailed as one of the greatest jazz and blues singers of her generation, Rickie Lee Jones began her music career at the age of 21, having moved from her native Chicago to California three years previously. She started out singing at clubs and bars around Venice and soon attracted the attention of pianist and songwriter Alfred Johnson, who would go on to be a co-writer and sideman for her over the next decade, writing songs with her that would later make up her debut album. By 1978, she'd built up such strong material that a four track demo of her songs spread around the L.A music scene like wildfire, eventually catching the attention of Warner Bros. Records' Lenny Waronker, who signed Jones at the end of 1978.

A year later, her self-titled debut album was released, and thanks to the success of its lead single “Chuck E's In Love”, which was a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the record was soon certified Silver in the U.K and Platinum in the United States. Jones wasn't able to keep up that kind of commercial success, the truth is she was never interested in the top of the charts. Soon after the success of her first two records, she took a creative left turn into a more complex, experimental jazz inflected sound and ever since then, she's continued to release hugely acclaimed records to her world-wide cult following. She's a genuine artist who in her nearly four decade long career has collaborated with everyone from Dr John to Tom Waits, and remains at the top of her game to this very day. For that, she comes highly recommended.