Clarence M. Jones

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Clarence M. Jones (born August 15, 1889 in Wilmington (Ohio) , † June 1, 1949 in New York City ) was an American ragtime , novelty and jazz pianist as well as arranger , composer , orchestra conductor and music teacher who also played The Sultan of Syncopation and was popular in Chicago in the 1910s and 1920s.

Live and act

Hula Lou, Sheet Music Cover (1916)

Jones had piano lessons from his mother and began his career at the beginning of the 20th century, after he had left his hometown Wilmington, first in Ohio, then worked in Cincinnati and finally from around 1911 in Chicago . There he appeared in the Owl Theater with his Wonder Orchestra in the mid-1910s . Ted T. Ward's song "Hula Lou" was a popular novelty song during this time , with which he became known in the city.

He also wrote numerous songs that were published as sheet music . Jones' early songs were "Lightning (A Striking Rag)" (1908), "The Candy (Ragged Two Step)" (1909) and "Wild Grapes Rag" (1910). Frank K. Root & Co. published “Pauline Waltz”, “One Wonderful Night”, “Thanks for the Lobster” and “In Search Of a Husband” in 1913/14, as well as “That Baseball Rag” (1913), “Only You ”(1915, with Arthur J. Lamb ),“ La Danza Appassionata ”(1916),“ The Dirty Dozen ”(1917) and“ Modulations ”(1923).

Jones was teaching young Jimmy Blythe when he came to Chicago in 1916. Around 1916 Jones was working as a composer and arranger for the McKinley Music Company . His songs have been released by record labels such as Crescent and Medallion. He also began recording piano rolls for companies like the Imperial Roll Company and worked with the bands of Charley Straight and Roy Bargy ("Mid the Pyramids"). In addition to Charles Luckyeth Roberts , Eubie Blake , Maceo Pinkard and James P. Johnson , Jones was one of the few musicians who recorded blues songs before 1921.

In the early 1920s, Jones frequented Clarence Williams ' music store on Chicago's South State Street. In 1922 he recorded Richard M. Jones '"Jazzin' Baby Blues" for Columbia Rolls (Columbia 457). He also worked with J. Mayo "Ink" Williams , who began working as a producer for Paramount Records during this time . In 1922 he took up as a pianist and musical director with his own orchestra ( Clarence M. Jones and His 'Wonder' Orchestra ); successful titles were "Wabash Blues", "Fate" and "Love Days" (Paramount). Clarence Jones' Wonder Orchestra was the first African-American dance band to broadcast their music on American radio in 1922. "The theater bands of Erskine Tate and Clarence Jones, the dance bands of Doc Cooke and Charles Elgar and the cabaret bands of King Oliver , Manuel Perez and Freddie Keppard were among the most successful jazz groups in town around 1923."

Jones' composition "Trot Along" was successfully recorded in 1923 by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago for Victor Records (Vi 19044). He also accompanied Monette Moore ("Gulf Coast Blues", "I Just Want a Daddy", Paramount, 1923), z. T. in a trio ( Clarence Jones and His Paramount Trio ), with Tommy Ladnier , cornet and Jimmy O'Bryant , clarinet (“I'll Go to My Grave With the Blues”, Paramount 12046).

During this time, Jones also recorded for Orlando Marsh's Laboratories and accompanied Fannie Wise, Schooler & Potter and The Harmony Girls, who recorded a version of his song "Trot Along". It was not until 1926 that he had the opportunity to make further recordings again when he recorded the title "The Arm Breaker" (OK 8404) for Okeh Records with his Wonder Orchestra . In 1927 Jones accompanied singer Laura Smith in Chicago at a recording session for Victor ("The Mississippi Blues", # 20775); In 1928 new recordings were made for Paramount, including his composition "Mid the Pyramids" (published as Clarence Jones and His Sock Four , Pm 12716). After Tom Lord , he was involved in 17 recording sessions between 1920 and 1928.

In the following years Jones worked successfully for the Chicago radio station WBCN, the broadcaster of The Southtown Economist . When his contract with the station ended in 1927, its popularity waned; In 1932 he moved with his family to New York, where from 1933 he worked as an arranger, composer and pianist for the vocal ensemble Southernaires . He wrote u. a. 1936 their signature tune "My Old Swanee Home". Jones, who died in 1949, is buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington.

Discographic notes

  • Black and White Piano - Complete Recorded Works 1923-1942 ( Document Records )
  • Rag Doll (Piano Ragtime of the Teens, Twenties & Thirties Vol. 3) (Herwin Records, ed. 1979)

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Blues Encyclopedia edited by Edward Komara, Peter Lee, 2004
  2. ↑ Portrait at ParamountsHome
  3. ↑ http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J607000
  4. ^ A b Candice Watkins, Arnett Howard: Ohio Jazz: A History of Jazz in the Buckeye State , 2012
  5. ↑ Recorded by the Fred Van Eps Banjo Orchestra (Pathé or Regal G 6892).
  6. ^ Including recorded by the Six Brown Brothers ("Passion Dance - La Danza Appassionata", Victor 18217).
  7. ↑ An advertisement on the Billboard from 1917 for Clarence M. Jones' composition advertises that it should have been a "sensation in black circles". (Originally:… "caused a sensation in 'The Black Belt'"). Quoted from James Lincoln Collier : Jazz , 1995, page 1905
  8. ^ David A. Jasen: Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography . 2007.
  9. ^ Peter C. Muir: Long Lost Blues: Popular Blues in America, 1850-1920 . 2010, p. 26
  10. ^ Thomas J. Hennessey: From Jazz to Swing: African-American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890-1935 . 1994, p. 40
  11. ↑ http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/61415/Jones_Clarence_M._instrumentalist_piano
  12. ↑ http://www.redhotjazz.com/clarencejones.html
  13. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 9, 2014)
  14. ↑ The Southernaires consisted of Ray Yeates (tenor), Lowell Peters (second tenor), Jay Stone Toney (baritone), William W. Edmonson (bass), and Spencer Odom (piano, arrangement)
  15. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22744
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Clarence M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician, composer and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilmington, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1949
Place of death New York City