Keziah jones biography

Keziah Jones gained popularity in England and France with singles like "Rhythm Is Love" and "Beautiful Emile." Jones was sent to a boarding school in London when he was eight, and he started busking in the London Underground when he was in his.
Life and career Olufemi Sanyaolu a.k.a.
Keziah Jones is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist.

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KEZIAH JONES

Keziah Jones is a Nigerian-born musician, performer, and artist. His music carries strong influences from Jimi Hendrix, Fela Kuti, as well as Sakara music. Jones left his birthplace Nigeria at the age of eight to study at a boarding school in London. In his teenage years, he began causing a stir in the underground scene in the city with his gigs in Covent Garden and Portbello Road. He released his first album Bluefunk Is a Fact! in 1992.

With his mastery of the guitar and an unmistakable voice, Keziah Jones has grown to become a massively popular and successful musician. We spoke with him about his style, musical taste and the stories behind his music.

Please introduce yourself and what you do.

My name is Olufemi Olusiji Sanyaolu, publicly known as Keziah Jones. I’m a musician/composer/line drawing artist and sometimes a writer and photographer

You’ve been talked about as a proper guitarist, someone who understands and values the technicality of the instrument. How important is this technical knowledge when creating music?

I wouldn’t say I am a “proper gui

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KEZIAH JONES

Olufemi Sanyaolu a.k.a. Keziah Jones was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He left Nigeria at the age of eight to be educated at the prestigious Public School, Millfield in North London. England.

Keziah says, "I had to find a way out of all that (English Public school system), and music was it!" By the age of 13 he had discovered the old school piano and began teaching himself how to play and write songs. Three years later, he picked up the guitar and began busking in London in the underground (metro), folk clubs and on the streets, whilst constantly having to avoid the police.

Moving between London and Paris and always accompanied by his guitar, Jones acquired a reputation as a unique musician and charismatic performer with his own unique "hard funk" style.

In 1992 he released his debut album Blufunk Is A fact including his first single and now classic, “Rhythm Is Love" which went on to be a global hit. Keziah has now released six studio albums which have spawned more hits including ‘Where Is Life’, “A Million Miles From Home”, “Beautiful Emilie”

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Keziah has just finished his first full live album, recorded in his hometown, Lagos. The album entitled Alive & Kicking, which will be released in early January 2025, includes 2 new studio recordings, “Melissa” and “Rainy Saturday,” and 2 amazing covers: The Police’s “The Bed's Too Big Without You” and Rick James’s “Below The Funk (Pass The J).” The album was recorded with his long-term live band consisting of Josh “McNasty” McKenzie, the brother of Labyrinth who began playing drums with Keziah at age 16! Also, the late Joey “Anchor man” Grant and new edition, Alex “Beanz” Miller, both on bass, and Edem “Amen” Viana on guitar.

Constantly creating, he is currently working on an art exhibition of his paintings, his 7th studio album, and several side projects, including a collaboration with famed French EMD producer Philippe Cohen Solal on an EP entitled Class Of 89, which they plan to expand into a full studio album.

Keziah, who lives and works between two worlds (Lagos and Paris), has always assessed and expressed the relationship between the northern and southern hemispheres