Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones (; born 30 November 1960) is an English artist and musician. She joined the rock band Cardiacs in 1980 as a multi-instrumentalist, debuting on the album Toy World, and married frontman and guitarist Tim Smith in 1983, becoming known as Sarah Smith. She became the saxophonist and a core member of the band's classic six-piece lineup, also contributing clarinet, recorders and vocals. After On Land and in the Sea (1989), she left Cardiacs in 1989 and later separated from Tim. She continued to play with the group in the studio and occasionally on stage, appearing on their albums as a guest, and retained the Smith name after her and Tim's divorce.

With Tim and keyboardist William D. Drake, Sarah played in the Cardiacs offshoot groups Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake in the 1980s and the Sea Nymphs in the 1990s. Based in Malvern since 1999, she became Sarah Jones in 2002 from marrying Omnia Opera bassist Andy Jones. Since returning to art 2004, Sarah Jones has taught batik workshops in schools, formed the company Eekbatik with Marie-Therese King in 2008, and done art installations. Musically, she has recorded her own unshared compositions, completed work on the Sea Nymphs second album On the Dry Land (2016), composed a soundtrack for her and her brother Matthew Cutts' Transplant art installation and appeared on songs by Omnia Opera and Spratleys.

Life and career

Early life and education Jones was born Sarah Cutts on 30 November 1960, in Coleford, Gloucestershire to artists Jo (née Furmark) and Mike Cutts. Her parents were both abstract painters. Her younger brother Matthew Cutts was born in 1963. From 1977 to 1981, Cutts studied printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts, receiving a BA in graphic design and printmaking. The band had released a single and cassette as Cardiac Arrest before shortening their name to Cardiacs and releasing the Toy World cassette in 1981, by which time Cutts had joined on saxophone and keyboards. The cassette marked the debut of Cutts on keyboard, saxophone and vocals and was the last album with Colvin Mayers, who plays keys on a few tracks; most of the keyboards are split between Tim and Sarah, who also plays clarinet. According to Mark Cawthra, who joined the band as drummer in 1979, they didn't have any polyphonic keyboard until Cutts paid for a string machine. as a semi-stable line-up had emerged by 1983 around Tim Smith (guitar, vocals), Jim Smith (bass, vocals), Quy (percussion, keyboards), Drake (keyboards, vocals), Sarah, and Dominic Luckman (drums) which became known as the band's classic line up. Tim, Sarah and Drake were the only Cardiacs members who could read music. According to Quy, Tim Smith had music written out which didn't fit the Cardiacs genre, so a side project probably called the Cardiacettes was formed of Tim, Luckman and Quy, as well as Sarah on occasion, to rehearse and record some.

The band's shows were characterised by a pantomime theatricality: Tim Smith would harangue his bass-playing brother Jim and kiss Sarah. Her voice comes up primarily in harmonies, taking the lead a few times. Sarah's sax adds to the strange mood of "Little Creations", while the beginning of "Camouflage" has Tim and Sarah on guitar and melodica, respectively. Benac said Sarah's sax on the chorus of "The Collar" brings an immediate contrast that Tim Smith's more abstract song's on the album sometimes lack. The album's first instrumental, "All the String", has tuned percussion playing a melody from "Camouflage" which is later mirrored on Sarah's melodica. The album's penultimate song "Dergo" starts with Sarah on a melodica drone. On the song, she sings "Wild thing, you make everything groovy," in a soft choral melancholic call as a nod to the Troggs' classic "Wild Thing" which can also be heard on the Cardiacs song "It's a Lovely Day". Tim and Sarah played along with the reports. Reed called the story the band's "one brief moment of infamy", while Marco Sgrignoli of Ondarock called it a publicity stunt of dubious effectiveness. upright Sarah Smith with Cardiacs in 1987"Stoneage Dinosaurs" features a saxophone solo by Sarah, which was played note for note on guitar by Jon Poole during concerts in the late 90s. Sarah plays a bluesy saxophone part throughout "All Spectacular", giving the sing-along concert favourite an amiable and open feel. "Loosefish Scapegrace" builds to an artful crescendo which "almost becomes R&B" through Sarah's sax and Tim's guitar. On "All His Geese Are Swans!", Sarah emphasizes different melodies on her saxophone, varying the same melody with the band as one of the standout instrumentalists along with Drake. The 1987 lineup recorded their debut studio album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (1988), with the band working through the night to complete the album. Sarah contributed saxophone, clarinet, recorder and vocals.

"T.V.T.V." from Archive Cardiacs released in 1989 has horn likely played by Sarah. On 1989's On Land and in the Sea, "Arnald" features Sarah's saxophone and many keyboards including harpsichord. On "Horse Head", Sarah comes in for the line "All he wants to do is quietly breathe". "Buds and Spawn" goes into a stop-start rhythm as Sarah and Drake play "fast paced, proggy melodies reminiscent of Van der Graaf Generator or Yes."

"Everything Is Easy!", a concert favourite released on the 1991 album Songs for Ships and Irons, prominently features Sarah, with her saxophone playing the main melody hooks.

1991–2003: The Sea Nymphs and Shrubbies, guesting with Cardiacs, homeopathy The commercial failure of On Land and in the Sea led the band members to reconsider their prospects and started leaving on amicable terms. The Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake trio renamed themselves the Sea Nymphs from 1991 for subsequent releases, with Sarah contributing wind instruments, percussion and voice to the group. As of 1999, Sarah still performed on some Cardiacs recordings and played saxophone in Shrubby Veronica. Prior to 8 March 1999, Sarah left the Shrubbies and Dan Maitland signed up on saxophone and keyboards.

Alongside Jo Spratley and Sharron Saddington, Sarah added additional vocals to the 1999 album Guns, which feature on several tracks. In 2005, Jones led an activity week in Colwall with fellow Malvern-based artists Marie-Therese King and Sarah Stanley where children used natural ingredients to create miniature gardens, willow lanterns and salad dressings. In March 2008, she formed the company Eekbatik with King to run school workshops and sell fine art prints and cards of original batik work. Their workshops carried out in local schools helped students create their own batiks through multi-layered printing of wax and dye.

Jones was a band guest with Omnia Opera on their track "Liquid Underground" from Nothing Is Ordinary (2011), which features Jones's saxophone and opens with tribal drums and bass harmonics from Andy Jones. From 2011 to 2013, Sarah Jones studied astrology with John Wadsworth at Kairos Astrology. The Transplant art installation by Matt Cutts and Jones explored the connectivity between art and nature, bringing together sculpture, images, music, poetry and living plants inside the Salisbury Arts Centre. It included batik paintings by Jones and a soundtrack of music, birdsong and field recordings composed by Jones and Craig Fortnam and/or Drake. Jones was among over 100 artists who took part in the second Worcestershire Open Studios event, exhibiting her batik works. She called the event" a good opportunity to meet art-lovers, tell them about your work and ask them what they think".

From 2020 to 2021, Jones studied at the Herford College of Art, receiving an MA in Fine Art. For Organ, Jones give six selections from The Art on a Postcard Auction in 2023.

At the 2024 Sing to Tim tribute live dates from Cardiacs Family, Jones' parts were covered by Chloe Herington. The music of Tim, Sarah and Drake was performed at the Sing to Tim celebration by Richard Larcombe and friends as the Smith and Drake Ensemble.

A Spratleys song, "Koiptics" released in 2026 as a first offering from their album Bloom and features Sarah "singing like a bird upon it".

Musical style Benac said that Sarah effortlessly served as Tim Smith's most consistent foil over the years, and that she, Drake and Tim had become "virtually telepathic players" by A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window. The three were dubbed the "core members" of Cardiacs by Kitching and Organ |2009 The Trudy Tenor saxophone on "Captain Scarlet" and "The Man from MI5"

William D. Drake Voice & alto-saxophone on "In an Ideal World" and "Homesweet Homestead Hideaway"

North Sea Radio Orchestra Backing vocals on "Morpheus Miracle Maker" (with Jo Spratley)

Omnia Opera Saxophone on "Liquid Underground"

2026 Spratleys Supporting vocals (with Maddy Wright and Jesse Cutts)

2026 Spratleys Extra beautiful singing, The Magical Moon Family Choir on "Bloom" (with Andy Jones and Matthew Cutts)