Sam Jones (musician)

Sam Jones (actually Samuel Jones ) (born November 12, 1924 in Jacksonville , † December 15, 1981 in New York City ) was an American jazz bassist , cellist and composer.

life and work

Jones played drums in a marching band at school and switched to bass afterwards. He first played in Philadelphia with Tiny Bradshaw (1953-55) and Les Jazz Modes . He moved to New York City in the mid-1950s. He has now worked for Kenny Dorham , Illinois Jacquet , Cannonball Adderley (1957), Bill Evans ( Everybody Digs Bill Evans ), Dizzy Gillespie (1958-59), Thelonious Monk and Ike Quebec / Grant Green ( Blue and Sentimental ). Internationally he was best known for his work in the Cannonball Adderley Quintet between 1959 and 1965. He then played in the trio of Oscar Peterson (1966-70), but also appeared with Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery and Cedar Walton (from 1971) on. With Richard Davis , Lisle Atkinson , Milton Hinton , Ron Carter and Michael Fleming, he has been a member of Bill Lee's New York Bass Violin Choir since 1968 . In the last years of his life, Jones led a semi-professional twelve-piece band.

Jones was a profound companion, especially in his interaction with Louis Hayes (on Grant Green's quartet recordings with Sonny Clark , with Cannonball Adderley and in 1966 with Peterson) and with Billy Higgins (in the projects of Cedar Walton) his enormous fortune was shown in the Rhythm section. Two of the Jones-composed pieces that were in Adderley's repertoire have become standards ( Unit 7 and Del Sasser ). He submitted several records under his own name.

Discographic notes

• Somethin 'Else ( Blue Note ; 1958) with Cannonball Adderley , Miles Davis , Hank Jones , Art Blakey
• The Soul Society (OJC; 1960) with Nat Adderley , Blue Mitchell , Jimmy Heath , Charles Davis , Bobby Timmons , Keter Betts , Louis Hayes
• The Chant (OJC, 1961) with Melba Liston , Cannonball Adderley, Wynton Kelly , Victor Feldman , Les Spann
• Down Home (OJC, 1962) with Snooky Young , Clark Terry , Frank Strozier , Joe Zawinul , Israel Crosby , Ron Carter , Ben Riley , Vernell Fournier
• Nippon Soul (Riverside Records) with Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Joe Zawinul, Louis Hayes, Yusef Lateef
• Changes and Things (Xanadu, 1977) with Blue Mitchell, Slide Hampton , Bob Berg , Cedar Walton , Louis Hayes
• Visitation (Steeplechase, 1978) with Terumasa Hino , Bob Berg, Ronnie Mathews , Al Foster

Web links

• Works by and about Sam Jones in the catalog of the German National Library
• Biography at Allaboutjazz