American jazz musician
Jonah Jones
|
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Jones, ca. March 1947
|
|
Birth name
| Robert Elliott Jones
|
---|
Also known as
| King Louis II
|
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Born
| (
1909-12-31
)
December 31, 1909
Louisville
,
Kentucky
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| April 30, 2000
(2000-04-30)
(aged 90)
[1]
New York City
, U.S.
|
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Genres
| Jazz
,
swing
,
boogie-woogie
,
jump blues
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| Musician
|
---|
Instrument(s)
| Trumpet, alto saxophone
|
---|
Years active
| 1920s- 2000
|
---|
Labels
| Capitol
,
Decca
,
Motown
|
---|
Musical artist
Jonah Jones
(born
Robert Elliott Jones
; December 31, 1909 – April 30, 2000)
[1]
was a
jazz
trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and
swing
and
jazz standards
that appealed to a mass audience. In the jazz community, he is known for his work with
Stuff Smith
. He was sometimes referred to as "King Louis II", a reference to
Louis Armstrong
. Jones started playing alto saxophone at the age of 12 in the
Booker T. Washington
Community Center band in
Louisville, Kentucky
, before quickly transitioning to trumpet, where he excelled.
Career
[
edit
]
Jones was born in
Louisville
,
Kentucky
, United States.
[2]
An early music instructor stuttered when stating Jones' surname, and so Jones became known as 'Jonah'.
[3]
He began his career playing on a
river boat
named
Island Queen
, which traveled between Kentucky and Ohio. He began in the 1920s playing on Mississippi riverboats and then, in 1928, he joined with
Horace Henderson
.
[2]
Later he worked with
Jimmie Lunceford
and had an early collaboration with Stuff Smith in 1932.
[2]
From 1932 to 1936, he had a successful collaboration with Smith,
[2]
but in the 1940s he worked in
big bands
like
Benny Carter
's and
Fletcher Henderson
's.
[2]
He would spend most of a decade with
Cab Calloway
's band which later became a combo.
[2]
Starting in the 1950s, he had his own quartet and began concentrating on a formula which gained him wider appeal for a decade.
[2]
The quartet consisted of George "River Rider" Rhodes on piano, John "Broken Down" Browne on bass and Harold "Hard Nuts" Austin on drums. The most-mentioned accomplishment of this style is their version of "
On The Street Where You Live
", a strong-swinging treatment of the Broadway tune with a
boogie-woogie
jump blues
feeling. This effort succeeded and he began to be known to a wider audience. This led to his quartet performing on
An Evening With Fred Astaire
in 1958, and an award at the
Grammy Awards of 1960
, receiving the
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album
. In 1972, he made a return to more "core" jazz work with
Earl Hines
on the
Chiaroscuro
album
Back On The Street
. Jones enjoyed especial popularity in France, being featured in a jazz festival in the Salle Pleyel.
A 1996 videotaped interview completed by Dan Del Fiorentino was donated to the
NAMM Oral History Program
Collection in 2010 to preserve his music for future generations.
[4]
Jones performed in the
orchestra pit
under the direction of
Alexander Smallens
and briefly in an onstage
musical
sequence of
Porgy and Bess
, starring
Cab Calloway
.
He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999 and died the following year in
New York City
, at the age of 90.
[3]
Family
[
edit
]
Jonah Jones married the trumpeter, clarinetist and hornist Elizabeth Bowles (1910?1993),
[5]
sister of
Russell Bowles
.
[6]
They had four children.
Discography
[
edit
]
As leader
[
edit
]
- Jonah Jones at the Embers
(
RCA
, 1956)
- Muted Jazz
(
Capitol
, 1957)
- Jazz Kaleidoscope
(
Bethlehem
, 1957)
- Jumpin' with Jonah
(Capitol, 1958)
- Swingin' at the Cinema
(Capitol, 1958)
- Swingin' on Broadway
(Capitol, 1958)
- Jonah Jumps Again
(Capitol, 1959)
- I Dig Chicks
(Capitol, 1959)
- Swingin' Around the World
(Capitol, 1959)
- Hit Me Again!
(Capitol, 1960)
- The Greatest Dixieland Ever
(Guest Star, 1960)
- A Touch of Blue
(Capitol, 1960), production by
Dave Cavanaugh
- The Unsinkable Jonah Jones Swings the Unsinkable Molly Brown
(Capitol, 1961)
- Jumpin' with a Shuffle
(Capitol, 1961)
- Great Instrumental Hits Styled by Jonah Jones
(Capitol, 1961)
- Broadway Swings Again
(Capitol, 1961)
- Jonah Jones Quartet/Glen Gray Casa Loma Orchestra
(Capitol, 1962)
- Jazz Bonus
(Capitol, 1962)
- Trumpet On Tour
(Baronet, 1962)
- And Now in Person Jonah Jones
(Capitol, 1963)
- That Righteous Feelin'
(Capitol, 1963)
- Jonah Jones Swings Etta Jones Sings
(
Crown
, 1964)
- Blowin' Up a Storm
(Capitol, 1964)
- Hello Broadway
(
Decca
, 1965)
- Double Exposure
(
Ember
, 1965)
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
(Decca, 1965)
- Sweet with a Beat
(Decca, 1966)
- Tijuana Taxi
(Decca, 1966)
- Good Time Medleys
(Decca, 1967)
- Squeeze Me and Other Favorites
(
Brunswick
, 1968)
- Along Came Jonah
(Motown, 1968)
- A Little Dis, a Little Dat
(
Motown
, 1969)
- Back On the Street
with
Earl Hines
,
Buddy Tate
,
Cozy Cole
(
Chiaroscuro
, 1972)
- Confessin'
(
Black and Blue
, 1978)
As sideman
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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