Curtis Alan Jones (born April 26, 1968), better known by his stage name Green Velvet, is an American disc jockey, singer and record producer. He is also known as Cajmere, Geo Vogt, Half Pint, Curan Stone, and Gino Vittori.

Early life

Curtis Alan Jones was born on April 26, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up listening to blues, jazz, funk, and rock. In the mid 1980s, he was introduced to house music via the radio. He started making music with a "sixty-buck keyboard, a cheap four-track and a cheap drum machine". Jones graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with a degree in chemical engineering. After attending the University of California, Berkeley, he moved back to Chicago in 1991.

Career

In 1991, Jones started releasing his music under the Cajmere moniker. In 1992, he founded a record label, Cajual Records. In that year, he released a collaborative single with Dajae, titled "Brighter Days" that peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. 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. Rolling Stone included it on its "20 Best Chicago House Records" list in 2014 while Mixmag included it on its "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019. In 1993, he founded another label, Relief Records. In 1995, he released a single, "Flash", under the Green Velvet moniker. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Billboard included it on the "10 Essential '90s Rave Jams" list in 2019. Mixmag included it on the "20 Best US Rave Anthems of the '90s" list in 2019. Green Velvet's debut studio album, Constant Chaos, was released in 1999. In 2000, he released a compilation album, Green Velvet. He released Whatever in 2001, Walk in Love in 2005, and Unshakable in 2013. In 2014, he teamed up with Claude VonStroke to form the side project Get Real. The duo's debut single, "Mind Yo Bizness" / "Snuffaluffagus", was released in 2016. The duo's second single, "Jolean", was released in 2019. In 2015, he released a collaborative album with Carl Craig, titled Unity. DJ Mag has described Green Velvet as "a stalwart figure in both house and techno".

Personal life

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

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

DJ mixes

Extended plays

Singles