Green Velvet

Curtis Alan Jones was born ^[2] on April 26, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois.^[3] He grew up listening to blues, jazz, funk, and rock.^[5] In the mid 1980s, he was introduced to house music via the radio.^[5] He started making music with a "sixty-buck keyboard, a cheap four-track and a cheap drum machine".^[6]

Jones graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with a degree in chemical engineering.^[3] After attending the University of California, Berkeley, he moved back to Chicago in 1991.^[7]

In 1991, Jones started releasing his music under the Cajmere moniker.^[8] In 1992, he founded a record label, Cajual Records.^[8] In that year, he released a collaborative single with Dajae, titled "Brighter Days"^[9] that peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.^[1] In the same year, he released the single "Coffee Pot (It's Time for the Percolator)" also known as "Percolator”, which was recorded at the Playroom Recording Studio by Jerome Mark Mikulich. ^[2] Rolling Stone included it on its "20 Best Chicago House Records" list in 2014^[10] while Mixmag included it on its "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019.^[11] In 1993, he founded another label, Relief Records.^[8]

In 1995, he released a single, "Flash", under the Green Velvet moniker.^[12] It reached number 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.^[13] Billboard included it on the "10 Essential '90s Rave Jams" list in 2019.^[12] Mixmag included it on the "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019.^[11]

Green Velvet's debut studio album, Constant Chaos, was released in 1999.^[14] In 2000, he released a compilation album, Green Velvet.^[15] He released Whatever in 2001,^{[citation needed]} Walk in Love in 2005,^[16] and Unshakable in 2013.^[17][18]

In 2014, he teamed up with Claude VonStroke to form the side project Get Real.^[19] The duo's debut single, "Mind Yo Bizness" / "Snuffaluffagus", was released in 2016.^[20] The duo's second single, "Jolean", was released in 2019.^[21]

In 2015, he released a collaborative album with Carl Craig, titled Unity.^[22]

DJ Mag has described Green Velvet as "a stalwart figure in both house and techno".^[1]

In the mid 2000s, Green Velvet revealed on Myspace that he had become a born-again Christian,^[23] after his drink was (allegedly) spiked with GHB.^[24]

• Constant Chaos (1999) (as Green Velvet)
• Whatever (2001) (as Green Velvet)
• Walk in Love (2005) (as Green Velvet)
• Unshakable (2013) (as Green Velvet)
• Unity (2015) (as Green Velvet, with Carl Craig)

• The Nineties (1993 A.D. Through 1999 A.D.) (1999) (as Green Velvet)
• Green Velvet (2000) (as Green Velvet)
• Lost & Found (2009) (as Green Velvet)
• It's Time (2010) (as Cajmere)
• Too Underground for the Main Stage (2013) (as Cajmere)

• The Future Sound of Chicago: Cajual Relief (1995) (as Cajmere, with DJ Sneak)
• Wheels of Steel Vol. 1 (1997) (as Cajmere)
• Techno Funk (2000) (as Cajmere)
• Sessions (2006) (as Cajmere vs Green Velvet)

• Underground Goodies Vol. I (1991) (as Cajmere)
• Underground Goodies Vol. II (1992) (as Cajmere)
• Underground Goodies Vol. III (1992) (as Cajmere)
• Underground Goodies Vol. IV (1992) (as Cajmere)
• Dreaming (1992) (as Cajmere, with Derrick Carter)
• Underground Goodies (1993) (as Cajmere)
• Let Me Be (1993) (as Underground Goodies)
• Velvet Tracks (1993) (as Green Velvet)
• Underground Goodies Vol V (1994) (as Cajmere)
• Underground Goodies Vol. VI (1994) (as Cajmere)
• Destination Unknown (1997) (as Green Velvet)
• Chicago (2010) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• New Gotham (2010) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• The Chicago Jazz (2011) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Elevated Tracks (2011) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Go Dancing (2011) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Chicago Style (2011) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Playground (2011) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• White Label (2012) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Black Label (2012) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Taste of Chi-Town (2012) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• Jungle Love (2014) (as Cajmere, with Gene Farris)
• It's All About Me (2014) (as Green Velvet, with Jay Lumen)

• "Keep Movin'" (1991) (as Cajmere, with Nané)
• "Brighter Days" (1992) (as Cajmere, with Dajae)
• "Chit Chat" (1992) (as Cajmere)
• "Percolator" (1992) (as Cajmere)
• "Feelin' Kinda High" (1994) (as Cajmere)
• "Flash" (1995) (as Green Velvet)
• "Get Up Off Me" (1995) (as Cajmere, with Dajae)
• "H*rny" (1995) (as Cajmere)
• "Only 4 U" (1996) (as Cajmere)
• "The Stalker" (1996) (as Green Velvet)
• "Answering Machine" (1997) (as Green Velvet)
• "Lookin' for a Man" (1997) (as Cajmere)
• "Feelin'" (1998) (as Cajmere)
• "Nasty" (2001) (as Cajmere)
• "La La Land" (2001) (as Green Velvet)
• "Genedefekt" (2002) (as Green Velvet)
• "Coitus" (2002) (as Green Velvet)
• "Sometimes I Do" (2003) (as Cajmere, with Walter Phillips)
• "Midnight" (2004) (as Cajmere, with Walter Phillips)
• "I Need U" (2004) (as Cajmere, with Dajae)
• "Nude" (2004) (as Cajmere)
• "Come" (2004) (as Cajmere)
• "Powered" (2004) (as Cajmere)
• "House-Werk" (2004) (as Cajmere)
• "Say U Will" (2005) (as Cajmere, with Dajae)
• "The Bathroom" (2005) (as Green Velvet)
• "Temptation" (2005) (as Green Velvet)
• "No S*x" (2005) (as Green Velvet)
• "Cuz of You" (2005) (as Green Velvet)
• "Shake & Pop" (2006) (as Green Velvet)
• "Bigger than Prince" (2013) (as Green Velvet)
• "Suga" (2015) (as Green Velvet, with Technasia)
• "Mind Yo Bizness" / "Snuffaluffagus" (2016) (as Green Velvet, with Claude VonStroke)
• "Keep Pushin' (Harder)" (2017) (as Green Velvet, with Riva Starr)
• "Jolean" (2019) (as Green Velvet, with Claude VonStroke)
• "Fuzion" (2019) (as Green Velvet, with Layton Giordani)^[25]
• "Unapologetic Raver" (2020) (as Green Velvet, with Eli Brown)
• "Critical" (2021) (as Green Velvet, with CamelPhat)^[26]
• "My Cheri" (2021) (as Green Velvet, with Mihalis Safras)^[27]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curtis Jones.

• Official website
• Curtis Alan Jones discography at Discogs