Curtis Jones

Curtis Jones
Background information
Also known as	Cajmere Green Velvet Gino Vittori Geo Vogt Curan Stone Half Pint
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Techno House Minimal
Instruments	Synthesizer Drum machine Keytar Vocals
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Relief/Cajual Records Music Man F-111/Warner Bros. Records
Associated acts	Armando Gallop
Website	http://www.green-velvet.com

Curtis Alan Jones (born April 26, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American electronica, house music and techno singer, songwriter and producer. His style of house and techno music has been compared to and inspired by the likes of Kraftwerk,Prince,Gary Numan, and Nitzer Ebb.

Jones is also known as Cajmere, Geo Vogt, Green Velvet, Half Pint, Curan Stone, and Gino Vittori.

Before becoming a professional musician, Jones studied chemical engineering at the University of Illinois. In 1991, he left a Master's program at UC-Berkeley to move back to Chicago, releasing his first song ("Coffee Pot" on ClubHouse Records) the same year. Up until this point, music had been a hobby fueled by cobbling together tracks on his "sixty-buck keyboard, a cheap four-track and a cheap drum machine" set-up while still an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. This DIY method of production was never taken seriously, and when childhood plans to become a doctor were shelved, Jones was firmly committed to a career as a chemical engineer. His father was an occasional DJ and eventually became a budding musician. As time went on, Jones discovered what was his innate love and understanding for house music, a sound that had grown throughout the mid-1980s out of Chicago's deep-rooted house music scene. He played the saxophone at school and had a talent for trying to play with a keyboard but remained largely un-interested in what he saw as his father's passion. It was this cut-up and tacky production style of the early house sound that Jones absorbed and translated into the Underground Goodies EP, his first release as Cajmere (the CAJ derived from the artist's initials) ) put out in 1991 on his own recently started Cajual label. A year later he had his first massive hit as Cajmere with the house tune "Coffee Pot (It's Time for the Percolator)," which was also released on Cajual and distributed by NYC-based Emotive Records. He then teamed up with Chicago-based vocalist Dajae for "Brighter Days," which entered #2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play, a high-impact and mellower house tune that was released on Cajual and distributed by NYC-based Emotive Records.

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