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Tameca Jones
Austin based singer




Band Description


Coined the "Tina Turner of jazz" due to her long legs and fierce hair and vocal style, Tameca Jones brews a fragrant potpourri of jazz, blues, rock, and soul with her quintet. Her honeyed tone and passionate, soulful renditions of jazz and rock classics captivate her audience. Backed by Wayne Salzmann II on drums, Dave Scher on guitar, Peter Stoltzman on piano, and Daniel Durham on bass, her quintet serves up hot, steamy, honey buttered performances to the hungry patrons of Austin and San Antonio. Tameca Jones, 31, is a rare creature--an Austin, TX musician actually born and raised in the musical city. Since embarking on her mission to bring passion and soul to the jazz world in 2008, Tameca has taken the local jazz world by storm. She started in the Austin music scene in 2005 with the neo-soul band 8 Million Stories. As the band's singer and composer of all the lyrics and melodies, Tameca's talent and stage presence made the band rise to popularity quickly. 8 Million Stories were regulars at Momo's, Saxon Pub, Lucky Lounge, and Antone's. During a SXSW showcase, the band? ?!"s music caught the attention of A&R reps from Riptide Music, a publishing company in California. Riptide placed the band's songs "Stunning" in an episode of the show Girlfriends and Synchronicity in the movie Starting Out In The Evening starring Lauren Ambrose and Frank Langella. In 2007, Tameca left the band to pursue a solo career. She relocated to San Francisco and quickly made a name for herself on the blues and jazz scene. Due to circumstances beyond her control, she moved back to Texas in December of 2008 hungry and determined to make a name for herself in her hometown. During her stay in San Francisco, a friend suggested that she learn some jazz covers to make some money while she composed original tunes. When she returned to Texas, Tameca spent four months devouring vocal jazz from Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Nancy Wilson, and other greats. She composed a set, assembled a band, and started her climb. As she learned more about jazz and about her own musical style, Tameca developed her own take on jazz classics. "I remember driving in the car one day listening to ?Since I Been Loving You" by my favorite band Led Zeppelin. I thought the song would sound really cool if I mashed it with Gershwin's "Summertime." It is one of my signature songs now. It is one of the things that makes me a unique jazz singer." At one of her jazz shows, you can hear The Beatles, Nirvana, James Brown, and Soundgarden mixed in with jazz standards. She sprinkles the jazz standard "Caravan" with snippets from Beyonce's "Naughty Girl." Tameca definitely keeps her audience guessing. Not only a jazz vocalist, Tameca worked with the popular band Strings Attached as the lead vocalist for their Stevie Wonder, Zeppelin, and Beatles shows. She recently wrote and sang on three tracks for the funk band Flyjack's new album made with Jab'o Starks, a drummer who worked for James Brown. Her voice can be heard singing a lullaby encouraging breastfeeding for WIC and other radio spots thanks to her work with music house Tequila Mockingbird. On March 11th, 2010, the City of Austin proclaimed it Tameca Jones Day!