Bobby Jones (musician)

Bobby Jones (born October 30, 1928 in Louisville , Kentucky , † March 6, 1980 in Munich ) was an American jazz musician (woodwind instruments).

Live and act

Jones received lessons from his father, who was a drummer, at the age of four. At the age of eight he switched to the clarinet. As an adolescent, he played with the Ray McKinley Orchestra and then with Hal McIntyre . Eventually he worked as the first saxophonist with the Woody Herman Big Band. After his military service (where he played in the "Fort Knox Army Band") he moved to Cleveland to work as a studio musician; he worked there in particular on R&B and rock'n'roll recordings. With the money he earned, he went to New York City because he wanted to become a member of Mingus' band.

Jones is best known for his work with Charles Mingus , with whom he worked from 1970 to 1972, such as on Blue Bird , Let My Children Hear Music or Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert . He then lived in Europe and was part of the Munich jazz scene. He recorded several records as a leader and together with Dusko Goykovich led the band “Summit Octet” (Five Horns & Rhythm Unit). The recording of the Hill Country Suite met with a great response from the jazz scene because of its expressive clarinet playing . Towards the end of his life he could no longer play the saxophone due to emphysema . His main job was as a composer.

Selection discography

• The Arrival of Bobby Jones (1972)
• The Legacy of Bobby Jones (1972)
• Bobby Pierce Introducing (Cobblestone CST9016, Muse MR5304 1972)
• live benefit (FDB Records, 1973, with Dusko Goykovich, Horace Parlan , Peter Trunk , Todd Canedy )
• Hill Country Suite (Enja, 1974)

Lexical entries

• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .

Web links

• Page about Bobby Jones at Enja (engl.)
• Bobby Jones at Allmusic (English)