About: Monkey Joe

Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman (January 26, 1906 - November 16, 1967) was an American country blues pianist and singer, who recorded sporadically from the 1930s into the 1970s. Coleman was born in Shelby County, Tennessee. He worked locally in Jackson, Mississippi in juke joints in the 1930s, and recorded with Little Brother Montgomery in 1935 on Bluebird Records. He began using the moniker "Monkey Joe" during that decade. Late in the 1930s he worked as a session musician for Lester Melrose, and recorded under his own name with Charlie McCoy, , Big Bill Broonzy, and Buster Bennett as backing musicians. Coleman also appears to have worked under several other names, such as "Jack Newman" at Vocalion Records and "George Jefferson" as an accompanist on recordings for . He also recorded on Okeh Rec