Down On Me

Bones In The Valley

You Woke Me Up This Morning

Preacher Man

Door of the Church

Since their New York City debut in July 2014 at Lincoln Center, (a high point of Alan Berg’s SXSW-premiering documentary The Jones Family Will Make a Way), the gospel group of Bishop Fred Jones Sr. has been on a holy tear. Their sensational return to NYC for globalFEST in January awed New York Times pop music critic Jon Pareles, who wrote of the JFS soulful fury: “It was all joyful praise, brilliantly timed with one crescendo after another. If they hadn’t been playing in Webster Hall’s basement, they might have torn off the roof.”

The bookings went crazy, taking Bishop Jones, daughters Ernestine, Sabrina, Velma, ‘Trelle and Alexis, sons Kenny (bass) and Fred Jr. (guitar, piano), plus drummer Matthew Hudlin, guitarist Ezra Bryant and percussionist Duane Herbert, from Germany and the Netherlands to Seattle and Alaska. The summer of 2015 finds the JFS rockin’ Jesus on the festival circuit, at Newport, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Monterrey and elsewhere.

In the midst of all this welcome chaos, the band recorded a live album at the Mount Zion Church of God In Christ in Markham, which Bishop Jones has led for over 30 years. It’s a nondescript house of worship in a nothing town about 86 miles southwest of Houston, with a congregation of about 40 saints on Sundays.

But on April 18 & 19, 2015, there was no better place to experience the spiritual revival of soul music and rock and roll. The people driving by on Farm Road 1468 had no idea the church even existed, but the walls barely contained an explosion of passion and precision in the name of the Lord. The Jones Family was home!

“You know, people are always saying, ‘Jones Family, why don’t you just switch over from gospel and sing rock and roll?’,” lead singer Alexis Jones teased during “I Am,” the song that gets this Holy Ghost party started. The congregation knew what was coming next, standing to sway (“rock”) in Jesus and roll in the Holy Ghost. This album was laid down with choreography and between church services, which were also recorded.

Besides showcasing the Jones Family as a powerhouse live band, Live from Mount Zion,is the best record yet of Alexis Jones’ soul-possessed vocals, which sound at times like Janis Joplin the exorcist. The youngest Jones sister went off script and into a trance on the second day of recording, accenting “I Love You” with a burst of screeching and preaching that had everybody in the church losing themselves to the glory. People were hugging and crying and raising their hands to the Lords in that moment of pure Pentecostal power. Beaming was producer Curtis Heath, who got it all down.

There was also something magical going on during “Try Jesus,” with churchgoers jumping up and taking the lead when the spirit hit. On “Woke Me Up This Morning,”with its jubilant stroll betweens the gardens of gospel and pop, Bishop Jones handed the mic into the throng and it ended up with Alonzo Stewart of New Generation, who kept up with the Jones Family on his verse. These sessions were loose and spontaneous, more church than studio. But for “the family that prays together,” playing together is as natural as breathing.

People are always saying, ‘Jones Family, when are you going to put out a record that matches what you can do onstage?’ This is the one.

Jones Family Singers

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