Richard M. Jones

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Richard M. Jones with the composer Billy Strayhorn (right). Photograph by William P. Gottlieb (around 1947)

Richard Marigny Jones (born June 13, 1889 or 1892 in Donaldville (Louisiana) , † December 8, 1945 in Chicago ) was an American blues and jazz pianist , arranger , composer , band leader and music producer .

Live and act

Richard M. Jones grew up in New Orleans and got to know various instruments in his parents' house; Due to a knee disability he was nicknamed "Richard My Knee Jones" by colleagues. In his youth he played alto horn in brass bands such as the Eureka Brass Band until the piano became his main instrument. Around 1908 he played in the clubs and cabarets of the Storyville district, as did Lulu White's Josie Arlington's . He later directed a small ensemble in 1912/13, which King Oliver also belonged to. Jones also played in the bands of John Robichaux , Armand J. Piron, and in 1918 with Papa Celestin's Tuxedo Brass Band . In 1915 he began to compose his first songs, including "Lonesome Nobody Cares", which was then interpreted by Sophie Tucker .

In 1918 Jones moved to Chicago to work for the music publisher Clarence Williams . From 1923 he made his first recordings as a soloist (1923), in a trio with Albert Nicholas and Johnny St. Cyr , as well as accompanying blues vocalists such as Bertha "Chippie" Hill (1925-27), and with his bands The Jazz Wizards (which also included Albert Nicholas, Shirley Clay , Stump Evans , Preston Jackson , Roy Palmer or Omer Simeon ) and The Chicago Cosmopolitans . He recorded for Gennett (under the pseudonym Wally Coulter , 1927), OKeh , Victor and Paramount Records in the 1920s , for the latter with a trio of cornet , clarinet and piano; He also worked for OKeh Records as the A&R of the Race program, the Afro-American records of the decade. From 1930 to 1934 he again led a band in New Orleans; from 1834 he worked as A&R for Decca , where he a. a. participated in the recordings of Lee Collins , Herschel Evans and Louis Metcalf . He was also active as a songwriter. Until his death in 1945 he worked for Mercury Records as an arranger and talent scout. In the 1940s he was still involved in recordings of Jimmie Noone (1940), Johnny Dodds and Punch Miller (1945). In 1944 he again led his own formation, to which u. a. Preston Jackson, Baby Dodds and Darnell Howard belonged to ("Canal Street Blues") and with which in March '44 recordings for Session Records were made.

As a composer he was responsible for numerous songs, including "Caldonia", "Jazzin 'Baby Blues" (also called Tin Roof Blues ), "29th and Dearborn", "Red Wagon", "Riverside Blues" and "Trouble in Mind", which he recorded in 1926 with "Chippie" Hill (vocals) and Louis Armstrong (cornet).

Jones has also worked on recordings of Willy Hightower's Night Hawks (1923), Blanche Calloway (1925), Louis Armstrong's Hot Five (1925/26), King Oliver (1926), Lillie Delk Christian (1927) and Louis Powell (1938) ) With.

Discographic notes

  • Richard M. Jones 1923-1927 ( Classics ) with Preston Jackson, Albert Nicholas, Johnny St. Cyr
  • Richard M. Jones 1927-1944 (Classics) with Albert Wynn , Omer Simeon, Herschel Evans, Wallace Bishop , Baby Dodds
  • Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 (1923-1927) & Vol. 2 (1927-1936) (Document)
  • Jazz Piano with Blues Singers ( Document Records ) with Callie Vassar, Thelma la Vizzo, Baby Mack, Wilmer Davis, Lillie Delk Christian , Louis Powell

Lexical entries

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Holley et al. a. give Barton (Louisiana) as an alternative place of birth ; Bohländer, Cook / Morton, Fairweather as well as Jörgensen / Wiedemann as year of birth 1889. Information 1892 according to Feather / Gitler.
  2. ↑ See Cook & Morton, p. 813.
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Richard M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jones, Richard Marigny (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and record producer
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1889 or 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Donaldville (Louisiana)
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1945
Place of death Chicago