You would assume that anyone who grew up in New Orleans would appreciate that city's unique musical culture better than the transplant would — but sometimes it takes an enthusiastic outsider to show the native just what he's got . . . or lost.
Jon Cleary, one of the city's most vibrant singer-pianists, actually grew up in England, albeit in a house where jazz and blues were always playing. He fell in love with New Orleans R&B at an early age and took up the guitar. In 1980 he made his way to the Crescent City to see whether or not he couldn't turn his obsession into a vocation, hanging out at the famous Maple Leaf Club, where he secured a job painting the place in exchange for beer and free admission to watch the local greats do their funky things.
In the house where he was staying was a piano, which he soon realized was his true calling. He mastered it with great dedication, and returned to London to form his own R&B band. But he couldn't stay away from New Orleans, where he later started playing with local luminaries such as George Porter and Walter "Wolfman" Washington. After he started writing his own material, he formed the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, but his career was suddenly interrupted when he ran into visa problems and had to go back to England.