Calvin “Fuzz” Jones
(June 9, 1926 - August 9, 2010)
A Mississippi native and long-time fixture on the Chicago blues scene, Jones was best-known as bassist for the Muddy Waters Band during the blues legend's phenomenal runs during the decade of the 1970s. Jones provided his fluid bass lines to such Waters' albums as They Call Me Muddy Waters and I'm Ready, and through the years Jones also recorded with talents like Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton, and Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson. Previous to his tenure with Waters, Jones had worked with Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Elmore James. In 1980, Jones joined a group of Waters band alumni who formed the Legendary Blues Band, which featured pianist Perkins, drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, harpist Jerry Portnoy, and guitarist Louis Myers. The Legendary Blues Band recorded seven albums between 1981 and 1993, beginning with the critically-acclaimed Life of Ease for Rounder Records. During the mid-1990s, Jones was a member of the Muddy Waters Tribute Band with guitarist Bob Margolin, and his former Legendary Blues Band mates Perkins, Smith, Johnson, and Portnoy. This outfit released a single album, You Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Dead & Gone), in 1997. On Jones’ death, Margolin recalled, “He brought us deep Chicago and Mississippi Blues on the bandstand and on recordings, and his Blues and love for his friends, family, and all of us are his legacy."