Jon Cleary

The band is generally well received, drawing large crowds of locals at classic New Orleans venues like Tipitina's and the Maple Leaf Bar. They are also a mainstay at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival and have played at Bonnaroo as well as other music festivals. Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote of the Pin Your Spin album: "Cleary can be an absolute monster on his own, but Cleary’s full combo R&B is as broad, deep and roiling as the Mississippi river, the combined swinging product of local keyboard tradition, Cleary’s vocal-songwriting flair for moody Seventies soul and the spunky-meters roll of his Gentlemen".

Cleary's current band is Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, who have released two albums. Their album Go Go Juice won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2016.

Cleary played piano on Annika Chambers' 2016 album, Wild & Free.

Cleary performs with a number of music luminaries including Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Ryan Adams, and Eric Burdon. Compositions by Cleary have been recorded by such notable musicians as Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, and John Scofield on his album 2009 Piety Street.

Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen consist of Cleary on keyboard and vocals; Derwin "Big D" Perkins (born 1974) on guitar; Cornell C. Williams (born 1962) on bass and backup vocals; and A.J. Hall on drums. All of the band members, except for Cleary, were born in New Orleans.

Jon Cleary (born August 11, 1962) is a British-born American funk and R&B musician based in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he has studied the "musical culture and life of New Orleans" according to his website. Cleary is an accomplished pianist as well as being a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter.