Jimmy Jones (pianist)

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Jimmy Jones (front) and John Levy , 1947.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Jimmy Jones (* 30th December 1918 in Memphis , Tennessee as James Henry Jones ; † 29. April 1982 in Burbank, Los Angeles ) was an American jazz - pianist and arranger of the swing and modern jazz .

Live and act

Jimmy Jones first played the guitar and then switched to the piano. He worked in various orchestras in Chicago from 1936 and attracted attention in the Stuff Smith Trio , of which he was a member from 1943 to 1945. He then worked with Don Byas , Dizzy Gillespie in 1945, JC Heard in 1945/47, Buck Clayton in 1946 and Etta Jones . Under the pseudonym Dusty Fletcher , he presented the single "Open the Door, Rich" (National) in 1947. From 1947 he became an accompanist for the singer Sarah Vaughan . He worked for her until 1952, then again after a long illness from 1954 to 1957. In 1954 he also worked on her legendary album with Clifford Brown and accompanied her on her European tour in the autumn of that year. During this time he worked with Brown , Helen Merrill and Gil Evans . In 1959 he accompanied Anita O'Day on her appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival , in 1959 Dakota Staton , Pat Suzuki and Morgana King .

After that, Jimmy Jones worked mostly as a freelance pianist and arranger in New York. In the 1960s, he worked with Harry Belafonte , Billie Poole , Johnny Hodges , Budd Johnson , Nat Gonella and Clark Terry , with whom he accompanied singer Chris Connor in 1960 ( Where Flamingoes Fly ), led the Ellington Band and acted as a substitute pianist for Duke Ellington in his orchestra (to accompany Ella Fitzgerald on her European tour) and went on tour in 1967 with Jazz at the Philharmonic . In the 1970s he worked on the Kenny Burrell album Ellington Is Forever , on which he played two solo piano pieces. He also played in Cannonball Adderley's last band before his death, with which the 1974 album Pyramid was created.

In the course of his career Jimmy Jones has worked as a pianist on recordings by Harry Sweets Edison , Ben Webster , Big Joe Turner , Coleman Hawkins , Frank Wess , Milt Jackson , Sidney Bechet , Sonny Rollins , Sonny Stitt , Thad Jones and as an arranger Wes Montgomery , Nancy Wilson , Shirley Horn , Joe Williams , Billy Taylor and Chris Connor starred. In the mid-1950s he made a few trio recordings in Paris, which exemplarily document his playing. Jones was in great demand as a pianist, arranger and band leader, although he can hardly be heard on many of the records on which he has played, or only with a few notes. Like Duke Ellington and Count Basie, he had mastered the great art of "conducting" the piano; That is, to influence the mood of a piece with just a few distinctive notes.

Sol Yaged , John Levy , Jimmy Jones, and Rex Stewart , Pied Piper, New York, circa September 1946.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Selection discography

As a leader

With Sarah Vaughan

  • The Divine Sarah Vaughan: The Columbia Years 1949-1953 (Columbia)
  • Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown (Verve, 1954)
  • Swinging Easy (Verve, 1954-57)
  • At Mr. Kelly's (Emarcy, 1957)

More shots as a sideman

  • Kenny Burrell: Ellington Is Forever Vol. 1 & 2 (Fantasy, 1975)
  • Don Byas: 1945, Vol. 2 (Classics)
  • Buck Clayton: The Classic Swing of Buck Clyaton (OJC, 1946)
  • Nat Gonella: Ellingtonia Moods And Blues (RCA, 1960)
  • Coleman Hawkins: 1946-1947 (Classics)
  • Johnny Hodges: Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges (Impulse !, 1964)
  • Budd Johnson: Budd Johnson And The Four Brass Giants (OJC, 1960)
  • Thad Jones : Mad Thad (Fresh Sound, 1956)
  • Helen Merrill : With Clifford Brown & Gil Evans (Emarcy, 1954-56)
  • King Pleasure : King Pleasure sings (OJC, 1952–1954)
  • Stuff Smith: 1939-1944 (Classics)
  • Clark Terry: Top And Bottom Brass (OJC, 1959)
  • Ben Webster: 1944-1946 (Classics)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ illboard February 8th. 1947
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jones, James Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1982
Place of death Burbank, Los Angeles