NEFERTITI JONES
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Nefertiti Jones is a Musician, Casting Director and Actress. She has appeared in numerous commercials over the past 5 years as well as was nominated New Yorker of the Week for her non-profit music program, Haven Kids Rock. A program that benefits kids in the foster care and welfare system.
Her music career has garnered her praises from various publications, "Jones vocals' are sultry” (the San Francisco Chronicle) and “powerful” (The Sacramento Bee), and have inspired comparisons to Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow. Her debut album, Still Time (1997), became one of the Bay Area’s top 10 bestselling albums of 1998, with her band nominated as Best Band of the Year by San Francisco Weekly and Jones earning a cover story in Spunk magazine. That same year, she won a coveted spot in the Lilith Fair, opening for Sinead O’Connor, Sarah McLaughlin, Erika Badu, and Natalie Merchant.
Subsequent albums include Here and Now (2001) Missing the L Train (2003), Life is Perfect (2006) recorded as the band JonesBones with now-husband Jimi K. Bones. Jones’s 2002 single “Minefield” earned a Song of the Year nomination from Just Plain Folks—the world’s largest independent music awards.
In 2018, Nef was featured on WPIX11 and WCBS880 for her original off-broadway musical, Unstoppable
In 2010, she was featured on the album A Blackheart Christmas with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, performing a duet with drummer Thommy Price.
In 2016, Song of the Year awarded Jones Bones songs, Time Bomb and Boom Boom Semi-finalist placement in the pop song category.
Jones’s song, “Freak in the Crowd,” recorded by teen singer Tucan Gara, was an overnight sensation, selected by Huffington Post as one of the top five anti-bullying anthems of 2012 and a runner-up for Song of the Year in the Song of the Year songwriting competition.
Jones has been featured on the Today show, VH1, MTV, Bay TV, Town and Country Magazine, The SF Chronicle, Bay Guardian, The Green Room, KQED, Cosmopolitan and The Daily News. She was also featured in the film documentary, Electric Purgatory, with music legends Fishbone, Vernon Reid, Bad Brains, and Living Colour.
Select praise for Nefertiti Jones:
“No one involved with the making of the video [“Freak in the Crowd”] anticipated the nearly instantaneous fame and recognition that accompanied its debut.”
—Olivia Bitetti, Today's CNY Woman, August 2012
“Mix the gift of music with a passion for teaching and a desire to help young children and you’ve got magic.”
—Holly Reich, Daily News, September 29, 2009
“The ‘streetwise Alanis’ sound of the marvelously named Nefertiti Jones.”
—Jason Warburg, Daily Vault (dailyvault.com), 2005
“A Blackheart Christmas” is like Christmas punk nirvana! Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (“Little Drummer Boy” - a punk rock classic), and speaking of The Blackhearts, their ace drummer Thommy Price and Nefertiti Jones bash out a cover of “Winter Wonderland” that would make Phil Spector envious.
Phil Rainone 2008
-www.jerseybeat.com/xmasmusic20
"Watching Nef perform songs like Scream and Anybody Else, one can't help but make comparisons with the raw stage and musical styles of Alanis Morrisette and PJ Harvey."
-Pete Harris © 2004. WOMANROCK.com.
“Songstress Nefertiti Jones blends the sheer contemporary sounds of Shawn Colvin, the grit of Emmylou Harris, and the beauty of Minnie Riperton for her own branded urban folk.”
—MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide (allmusic.com), 2001
“She is neither an abstract A&R creation or a half-hearted self-starter with a trust fund. She's the real deal.”
—Saren Sakurai, San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 17, 1997
“When she sings, the sounds of her many influences (Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading, Joni Mitchell) confirm the don't-use-me-pal strength of her own lyrics. How tough is she? Check out this sass: ‘I'm not a blow-up doll, you can't deflate me.’"
—SF Weekly music awards, 1997