Cliff Houseminista Jones (ordained Minister)
San Diego, CA

Cliff Jones is a licensed minister of the Gospel who also is a self described and bona fide, Gospel house head. He’s been a fan of soulful house music since first hearing it back in the ‘80s when living in the metro New York City area. Classic radio stations such as WBLS, KIIS.FM and 92 KTU all played classic house mixes at a time when few if any other stations in the U.S. was mixing at all. He fell in love with the genre, but after moving back to So. Calif, he went on a mission to get the local LA pop and alternative stations to at least adapt the different ‘mixshow’ formats he’d grown accustomed to in NYC. He was met with a lot of resistance, and negativity from “People wouldn’t understand mixing two songs together” to “You mean like in a club? Hey buddy, this is RADIO!!!” [Click….dial-tone]

Finally, the station manager Shaun Demory of KGGI 99.1 fm in Riverside/San Bernadino listened to the idea and like it and offered Cliff a job as it’s stations first mix-master. Cliff, turned the once in a lifetime opportunity down as among other reasons, he couldn’t hear the beats to mix to, a decision he would regret for many years to come. So, that job went to a then locally unknown dj with superior skills, DJ Pat D. who took that radio station to new heights with his mix style. Cliff then became friends with the dj’s of the local college station KUOR who had the creative freedom to put out some serious mix shows, but he still didn’t learn to mix, focusing more on getting the local stations to adapt the great mix shows that he’d heard in NYC.

Then one night, while listening to a radio show in Los Angeles, it suddenly hit him how to get mixing on the local stations utilizing the station’s equipment since most had abandoned they’re turntables in lieu of cassettes etc. So after a lengthy conversation with Power 106 on air dj Mucho Morales, 2 months later Power 106 in LA had a Friday and Saturday night mixshow and after that, many other local stations began to follow suit.

Then in 1995, after answering the call to return to the Lord, Cliff was in a local Christian bookstore looking for some worship music and discovered a cd called ‘Hymns in the House’. It was a compilation cd of old and traditional hymns with house and techno beats. Cliff had forsaken all musical elements and styles of the world to follow his Lord & Savior Jesus with a strong intention to never go back into the world, but this cd had once again awakened the house music lover inside him and this time it was giving the Glory To God!

In 2000, one of Cliff’s brother’s in Ohio mentioned that they were mixing Gospel on the local Sunday morning Gospel radio station there, and after much coaxing, his brother finally sent Cliff a cassette with a mix from one of the broadcast and Cliff knew right then this was something special. Then through a series of events, Cliff met DJ Bunny of L.A. who told Cliff about a Christian dance concept that spoke to Cliff’s spirit: Why not take this idea and use it for a Christian outreach…a Christian House Music Outreach!?!

Cliff tried to share the idea with those in his local church in San Diego, CA, but nobody got it…and called it ‘Christian disco’ with a wink…wink and a nod, not taking Cliff’s vision seriously, But God had other plans and began to deal with Cliff about how to bring it to fruition. Cliff had been listening to Gospel House pioneer, DJ Frankie Vibe’s Gospel house radio broadcast from NYC called The House of Inspiration on WFDU online for nearly 4 years. In the meantime, Cliff had become a licensed minister of the Gospel and after meeting DJ Amuse through Bunny, was invited up to speak at various Christian events that mixed GHM and the Word of God in a seamless marriage, further proving that the two can be put together to win an ever increasing secular and godless world. But still, nobody in San Diego where Cliff lived had ever heard of Gospel house music, and those who had, mostly in his immediate fellowship didn’t accept it.

Then in the winter of 2009 things began to turn around. Cliff met Gospel House Super Star and diva Ms. Michelle Weeks who had come to San Diego on business and met with Cliff and the journey to a real Gospel house music ministry began. Cliff did a radio interview with a dj/ producer in San Francisco who was expanding his ministry, by the name of Pat Allen who had connections with Michelle Weeks, Frankie Vibe, and soul singer Robin S. ( of the 1990 top 40 dance hit: ‘Finally It Happened To Me..’) After which, DJ Darryl Stewart aka ‘DJ D-REAL who had now taken over Frankie Vibes time slot with The Gospel Housing Authority Mixshow had called Cliff and asked him if he’d be interested in doing a segment on his weekly radio show bringing the Word to the music.

After some brainstorming, Cliff came up with the format of taking the meaning of a GHM track and bringing out the message in the music and thus the weekly segment: ‘Exposing the Gospel in Gospel House Music w/ Min. Cliff J’ was born. It started out with a slow following at first, but after 19 months the show was heard regularly by people from 13 countries and hundreds more listened weekly online at the segments archives that were accompanied by animated graphics put together by Lloyd Wharton of T-Solutionz Tech. Srvcs of Washington D.C to help further the ministry.

Cliff is now developing San Diego’s, as well as California’s FIRST Gospel House Choir and is preparing to start an outreach ministry this summer in the Greater So. Calif area. Cliff is also appearing on local cable access channel 23 here in the San Diego area ministering on issues of that affects young Christians and is hoping to showcase his new local choir in the same venue someday soon.
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