We want our Houston Style Mag- azine readers to have fun and experience an evening of great entertainment of Blues and Jazz including three performances in one night at the Houston Blues and Jazz Festival at the 713 Music Hall on Saturday, September 24, 2022, starting at 7:00pm.

MonoNeon

Known as MonoNeon, Dywante Thomas Jr. is an American bassist, experimental musician, and native of Memphis, Tennessee. He is known for his presence on YouTube playing bass guitar and known for being one of the last people to work with Prince. Thomas is a Grammy Award-winning artist for participating in the 2020 NAS studio album King’s Disease. While Thomas is right-handed, he plays left-landed up- side down on a right-handed bass guitar, which allows him to use heavy string bending on the upper strings. His slap- ping style/technique is unique because he executes everything upside-down but still uses the thumb for slaps and fingers for pops. Musicians like Marcus Miller have noticed his playing style. Southern soul, blues, and funk heavily influenced his musical background.

“... I got another one of those emails a few months later asking to come back... this time, it was to work with Prince – this was late 2015... I be- came his bassist for a new band he was forming with Kirk Johnson on drums, Adrian Crutchfield on saxophone, and Donna Grantis on guitar. We played various shows at Paisley with Prince. I started recording with him during that time (late 2015/early 2016). Kirk said, “Prince wants you to come to Studio A.” When I got there, Prince played a track from the recording album; it was just him and me in the control room. He handed me his guitar and asked me to play along with the track to see how it sounded. After I played, I gave the guitar back to him – he smiled and said I would see you in a minute. My final time with Prince was in February for a late-night studio session. “If I knew that would be my last moments with him, I wish I would have said to him, “I love you.

Thank you for embracing me and giving me a chance.” Feature article, Bass Musician Magazine by Kilian Duarte.

Andy Timmons

As guitarist for pop-metal band Danger Danger, Andy Timmons toured the world opening for Kiss and Alice Cooper, sold over a million records worldwide, and had two #1 videos on MTV, plus amassing a discography that includes seven solo releases that range from blazing guitar instrumentals to blues, and even a Beatles/Elvis Costello-inspired collection of pop tunes.

Timmons embarked on a solo career in the mid-90s. His newest album Electric Truth, was released on April 1, 2022, where he explores blues and jazz.

“If there ever were a “guitarist’s guitarist,” it would be Andy Timmons. The Danger Danger shredder turned solo artist has spent nearly 30 years creating instrumental rock that’s both innovative and exciting (most releases in this category are one or the other, seldom both). On his latest album, Electric Truth, Timmons touches on facets of blues, jazz, funk, and more, never losing sight of his musical identity along the way. Call it zealous, adventurous, larger than life: All that and more would be accurate descriptors for this six-string savant. We sat down with Timmons to discuss his creative inspirations, ambitions for the future, and that time he accidentally upstaged Steve Vai.”Andrew Catania, AllThatShredsMagazine.com

James Francies

He was called “a pianist with liquid dynamism in his touch” by the New York Times.

Since his debut al- bum Flight entranced listeners in 2018, pianist-producer James Francies has expanded his explorations of sound bending and orchestral approaches to the music. Collaborations across stylistic realms — including those with Child- ish Gambino, Pat Metheny, Mark Ron- son, The Roots, YEBBA, Chris Potter, Common, Eric Harland, Marcus Miller, DJ Dahi, and Ms. Lauryn Hill — have enhanced his development and refined his sound. In issuing Purest Form, his second Blue Note release, Francies accesses intimate chambers of his artistry across 14 tracks, interpreting love, grief, frailty, and fortitude. Francies, like his Blue Note predecessors Robert Glasper, Jason Moran, Chris Dave, and Kendrick Scott, is a proud Houstonian and a graduate of that city’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), one of the nation’s most reliable incubators for era-defining jazz talent.

He met Questlove and Roots keyboardist James Poyser a few years ago—subbing for Poyser on Roots concerts and The Tonight Show Star- ring Jimmy Fallon; participating in the Roots-produced Hamilton cast recording, in addition to other film and TV score work organized by Quest; and, currently, collaborating with The Roots emcee Black Thought on a Broadway show.

Houston Blues & Jazz Festival Saturday, September 24, 2022 713 Music Hall at 7 p.m.

Event Info: www.HoustonJazzFestival.org/

Artist Info: www.BlueNote.com/

Ticket info: www.ticketmaster.com/event/3A005D01DF- D67AB7