Nationality: Jamaica
Desi Jones was born in Kingston ,Jamaica on the 21st February 1959. He started playing the recorder and conga drums at the age of seven at the Institute of Jamaica.
At the age of twelve he started playing the drumset and also joined the Salvation Army brass band as a trombone player.
He became a professional musician in 1976 at the age of seventeen as drummer for the Sonny Bradshaw Seven, a top Jamaican dance band at the time.
In 1980 he became a founding member of the reggae group “CHALICE” and recorded at least seven albums of original material with the group. His book “The Art Of Reggae Drumming”the world’s first instructional book on reggae drumming was released in 1983.
In 1988 he formed the band “SKOOL” which has toured extensively and recorded with top acts such as Jimmy Cliff, Barrington Levy, Mutabaruka and Marcia Griffiths and has been the house band for the Reggae Sunsplash tours of the USA and Japan for many years.
Desi Jones has also recorded and toured with Jamaican jazz pianist and guitarist Monty Alexander and Ernie Ranglin.