Keyboardist Moves Out of Background Into the Limelight

In the late-night talk show field, where the band-leader-as-sidekick has been done ad nauseam, Raymond Jones stands alone as the invisible bandleader.

As musical director for the “Keenan Ivory Wayans Show,” Jones selects, arranges and rehearses all the music played by the show’s glamorous, all-female grunge/funk band without ever appearing on screen.

Jones has spent most of his 20-year musical career in the background. As keyboard player for the mega-selling disco band Chic, he was relegated to a supporting role even though his sparse chords were as integral to the band’s sound as the grooves of front men Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards.

Jones will bring his heretofore shadowy image to light when he plays the Baked Potato in Universal City on Friday.

Jones, who lives in Woodland Hills, was just 19 when he was asked to join the band shortly after it formed in 1977. He played with the band on most of its big hits, including “Le Freak.”

Most influential was the group’s 1979 hit, “Good Times,” which inspired Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” The Sugar Hill Gang also sampled the “Good Times” bass line for “Rapper’s Delight,” the song that launched rap nationally. Chic disbanded in 1984.

But Jones’ tenure with the band didn’t last that long. In 1982, during a Chic hiatus, Jones accompanied the Talking Heads on a tour. “When I came back, they (Rodgers and Edwards) said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ ” Jones vowed to never depend solely on one employer. “In the music industry, I think diversity is the key to being able to earn a living,” said Jones, 39, who says he never minded being out of the spotlight during the Chic years.

“I was a hired musician, and--at 19--to be a part of something from nearly the onset was incredible. It was an amazing ride . . . to tour the world. It made me realize the potential of reaching people through the music.”

After leaving Chic, Jones hit the road again, with artists ranging from Jeffrey Osborne to Chaka Khan to the Slits. He polished his songwriting skills and began producing artists “because I wanted to hear the songs I wrote, realized the way I was envisioning them.”

The Jamaica (Queens), N.Y., native moved to Los Angeles in 1984 after scoring big with Osborne’s “Stay With Me Tonight,” then landed a song on Whitney Houston’s record-breaking debut album. His writing and production skills caught the attention of filmmaker Spike Lee, who became Jones’ steadiest employer, recruiting him to compose and produce soundtrack music for five films, including the acclaimed “Do the Right Thing” and the recent “Get on the Bus.” His reworking (with vocalist Cynda Williams) of W.C. Handy’s “Harlem Blues,” from Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues,” was a Top 20 R&B; hit in 1990.

Later that year, Jones teamed with former Chic vocalist Norma Jean Wright to form State of Art. Lee signed the group to his 40 Acres and a Mule record label and they released a moderately successful album, “Community,” in 1991. Jones has since set up his own label, Uprising, and released “Acts of Love” in 1997.

Jones’ reputation as a solid pianist-keyboardist and arranger made him an ideal candidate as a musical director on a TV show. But when the “Keenan Ivory Wayans Show” called, Jones initially declined, foreseeing the jokes an all-female band gimmick would inspire. Indeed, some have referred to his musical charges as Josie and the Pussycats, the cartoon band from the early ‘70s that had “long hair and tails to match.” Now he says, “As long as they don’t call them the Spice Girls, I’m cool.”

“At first, I wasn’t sure what the integrity of the band would be. Was it going to just be girls who couldn’t play, in revealing outfits? When I saw the musicians (that the show’s producers) put together, I saw their potential as musicians who just happened to be beautiful, so I got excited.”

Jones, who claims Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell and other post-bop-era titans among his influences, plans to bring that excitement to the stage Friday night. His band for that date will include “Keenan” keyboardist Chanda Bailey, drummer Bobby Lewis (son of jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis), bassist Del Atkins and vocalists Lori Perry and Wil Wheaton. They’ll concentrate on new material as well as Jones’ earlier compositions.

Jones’ next frontier: scoring. In addition to providing the mood music for Wayans’ various skits, he recently provided the temporary score for the new Jada Pinkett film, “Woo.” But for now, he wants to give his music permanence by performing live.

“I feel like I need to keep the songs I’ve composed over 20 years alive. If you don’t keep songs alive, they die. As a player, I’m trying to harness from the abstract and connect that to the piano . . . trying to stay as spontaneous as possible and not let the hands fall where they would be most comfortable.”

BE THERE

Raymond Jones at the Baked Potato, 3787 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Universal City. Friday, 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Cover, $10. Call (818) 980-1615.