Half-Pint Jones profile picture

Half-Pint Jones

About Me


Half Pint Jones is a colorful five-piece project of sophisticated funk, jazz, and rock sprinkled with the musical flavors of New Orleans. This dynamic group was birthed during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and is rooted to staying true to all musical and spiritual influences; keeping their music honest and fresh. Based in South Bend, Indiana, these five musicians have come together to express a new, organic, manner of story-telling and musical improvisation, while maintaining a completely relatable sound.
Creating music for Half-Pint Jones is often birthed out of some level of emotion. From tragedies the band has faced, to finding love, to having children, the experiences these five guys have gone through have taught them to chase what they hold dear and to be as honest as possible as musicians.
Their goal is to be the best live band they can be, while also working to achieve incredible studio sound, reaching the masses with their music. This band is road hardened just enough to show the maturity level of the band—their work ethic constantly proves they are putting out the best product they can.
The band is ready to release their second album in two years, Single File. This record, for the band, was an absolute exercise in three to four minute composition. Compressing the songs, cutting the fat…taking the Half-Pint Jones style of music, stripping down the composition to the bare necessities, and building back up from that point. Their first album, Trilogy of Patches and Olaf was built of very flushed out, linear songs, that took more time and space to narrate. Trilogy was extremely well received by radio stations, but the common response from producers and DJs was that though they loved the music, the songs were far too long for any permanent positions on radio. Creating Single File left the band with the perfect reason to cultivate the stories and songs in a manner that would allow them to try and find a more permanent home on the radio format.
Their song writing process is amazingly organic. Generally speaking, the guys get together with an idea, brought in by one member of the other, and they all go to work growing that idea by inserting different moods, different opinions. The rhythm section builds upon each other’s beats and phrasing, and they mesh together with different processes and effects, and establish a steady foundation. Adding in the horns to weave within the groove or rub up against it, Half-Pint Jones creates the perfect mix of emotions originally imagined in the beginning. In “Mixture of Things”, the band came together using a set of lyrics that Justin wrote about a celebratory night out. “Ryn” digs deeper in to the relationship of one of the band members, while showing how strong the band’s ballad composition is. A song like “My Name” shows not only the incredible soul, R&B flavor of the band, but the lyrical sensibility as well. “Jam Sandwich for Jonas” is a tribute to the saxophone players’ son.
For some more info on the band, check out our EPK (electronic press kit), at Sonicbids.
View Half-Pint Jones's EPK
If you feel like spending your money on something that will enrich your life with nothing but pure pleasure, click on the link to buy our first album "Trilogy of Patches and Olaf", and let the love begin.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 27/06/2007
Band Website: www.halfpintjones.com
Band Members:
Mark Gamble:

Mark Gamble (trumpet, percussion) is an introspective soul steeped in the traditions of jazz improvisations and musical expression with fathers ranging from Louis Armstrong to Orbert Davis.

Steve Krojniewski (Krojo):

Steve Krojniewski (drums, percussion) hails from South Bend. His musical endeavors have all been original bands, including The Mushroom-head Experience, Alibaba's Tahini (with Jake Cinninger from Umphrey’s Mcgee), and now Half Pint Jones. Steve received his training at the Eddie Knight Drum School from 1992-1998.

Chris Olivier:

Chris Olivier (saxophone, percussion) is a New Orleans native committed to sharing and preserving the rich and culturally diverse heritage of the Crescent City through song.

Justin Ross:

Justin Ross (guitar, lead vocal) has been playing guitar for 12 years. His main interest lies in Jazz and he graduated from Berklee College of Music, studied at the Bloom School of Jazz in Chicago, and continues to learn from many others. He has 4 years of teaching experience at the Culver Academies, which has been both enjoyable, and essential in supporting his music habit.

Jayson Sites:

Jayson is a Chicago native, now living in Southwest Michigan. A self-taught musician, he's been playing for over 20 years… rooted as a bassist. His playing radiates inspiration from George Porter Jr., Pino Paladino, Jaco, Jonesy, Aston 'family man' Barrett, Zappa, and numerous others.

*Joining Half-Pint Jones is their amazing sound swami, Steve Pierce.

*Booking: http://[email protected]
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

5.27.09

Boy, I've climbed two mountains in two days and are my feet tired!  This is the 4th day of my three week expedition out west with my wife, Amanda. She wrote and won a grant to travel out west to...
Posted by on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:13:00 GMT

4/18 at Trio's

We recognize that there is a difference. What might be considered a large crowd is subjective only in the context of the environment itself. Example: The Morris Performing Arts Center (in South Bend) ...
Posted by on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:36:00 GMT

Slightly Amusing

I wouldn't call it an obsession. It is simply an aggressive curiosity. Flight has always been something I wanted to dabble in. I could never picture myself going to flight school, and although awes...
Posted by on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:03:00 GMT

Mark

Other people's music....its fun to pretend. I love playing covers to an extent, it's how we all learn to play. But at some point, it's time to put yourself out there. If not you are just imitating, pr...
Posted by on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:29:00 GMT

March 8

I remember when I was 16, and eager to get to the DMV, (a feeling never to be uttered through my slightly bloated cranium ever again), to get my next bench mark privilege as an american citizen. Turni...
Posted by on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:50:00 GMT

Last Weekend!

Man,what a great weekend! We had the pleasure of sharing the concert stage with the band, The Young Dubliners.Talk about two bands that don't sound anything alike, but yet fit like a well worn basebal...
Posted by on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:11:00 GMT

New tunes 11/6/08!!!

Hey Folks! It's a new dawn on the horizon, and we couldn't be happier about it. As a show of our appreciation, we've uploaded a great new single from the new album, called 'My Name'. We also put up so...
Posted by on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:21:00 GMT

New tunes on the Radio!

Hello my fellow Joneser's! I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend. WE had a great time playing on the fourth and the fifth and we appreciate all who came out.   We have some new ...
Posted by on Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:42:00 GMT

Heavy Hearts

Greetings everyone, I wanted to send along some news of saddness in Half Pint Jones. Our publicist, Jill Rosen's grandmother, passed away  over the weekend while we were in the studio recording o...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:23:00 GMT

Back on T.V.

Hello friends. It's true, we're back on the tele. Tune in to WNIT, on April 13th, to see you're favorite fellas from Half-Pint play another song. It should be on at 7:30 p.m. EST. Check your local lis...
Posted by on Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:40:00 GMT