Vale Jon Delaney 10/4/76 - 11/3/21
Jon Delaney performing at Festival Django Reinhardt July 2016.
Photo by Owen Clarke www.owenclarkephotography.co.uk/
Since his arrival onto the gypsy jazz scene, Jon Delaney was a mainstay at the OzManouche Festival in Brisbane. He was a festival favourite performing almost every year in various ensembles and the first musician to perform a solo concert. Jon was a hugely inspiring and influential musician, loved by everyone who knew him. He treated everyone with a great deal of respect. It did not matter to him if you were a professional musician, a hobbyist or even in the beginning stages of your musical journey; Jon was always humble, kind, patient and free with his seemingly limitless knowledge of guitar technique and repertoire. I found this quality in Jon completely refreshing. Often when you play with your musical heroes, the experience can be bruising; Jon always made you feel like one of the gang. A quality both he and Ewan MacKenzie imbued and made an impression on me that has carried into my work for the OzManouche Festival.
After Ewan's passing and I began my role for the festival, Jon was one of the first people to call me, and we spent hours talking and workshopping ideas for the festival. He and I both agreed that even though the programming may change, the essential elements and community aspects of what Ewan built would remain as a tribute to him.
We had a funny relationship at times. Sometimes best mates, other times there was epic shit-stirring and piss-taking. It was never mean spirited, and there was always mutual respect and friendship behind it all. Jon would refer to me as the "Dungeons & Dragons" of gypsy jazz because of my long hair, former life playing rock music, and penchant for Star Wars quotes. I wore it like a badge of honour in a "You know it, Baby!" kind of way. And would goad him by quoting metal riffs or the Star Wars theme in my solos to his amusement and faux disgust.
"Gypsy jazz to me is playing with your mates with one foot on the ground and the other pounding the earth," he told me once. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to have to spend hundreds of hours playing music with him. Always in places hundreds or thousands of kilometres from my home in Sydney. Countess times sitting across from him playing rhythm guitar while his hands danced across the fretboard with boundless energy and inspiration, feeling the sound of his guitar hitting me in the chest and filling the air. Nights jamming turned into mornings as we explored deep into the repertoire and rediscovered forgotten songs. I remember one particular night after a jam session at L'Apostrope in the 10eme of Paris. We decided to continue jamming by the canals with some other musicians after the bar closed. At about 3 am, I realised that I had no way to get back to where I was staying in the 5eme—the other side of town. The metro was long closed, no taxis about. Jon ended up hiring a bike for me and pushed off me in the direction of Notre Dame with my guitar on my back. I wasn't as familiar with Paris as I am now and didn't know my way. I still remember Jon yelling, "Stay on the Boulevard de Sébastopol until you hit Notre Dame, then turn left!" as I drunkenly pedalled off. I have so many memories like this with Jon, and I will cherish them always.
We will be setting up a photo page in tribute to Jon with photos of past festival performances. The 2021 Festival will be dedicated to his memory. In the meantime, there are some performance videos in the comments section.
Jon, we love you and miss you. Travel well dear friend.
-Cameron Jones
OzManouche Creative Director
Selected Jon Delaney Links
Website https://jondelaney.com/
Jon Delaney Solo Albums on Bandcamp https://jondelaney.bandcamp.com/
Jon Delaney YouTube Playlist Project https://www.youtube.com/channel/JonDelaneyPlaylistProject
Jon Delaney Youtube Page https://www.youtube.com/JonDelaney
Other Projects
Ultrafox https://ultrafoxswing.com/about-us
La Mauvaise Réputation www.lamauvaisereputationband
The Furbelows https://www.thefurbelows.band/