picture of Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Hank (*1918) was raised in a musical family. His mother Olivia Jones sang; his two older sisters studied piano; and his two younger brothers - Thad, a trumpeter, and Elvin, a drummer - also became prominent jazz musicians. He studied piano at an early age and came under the influence of Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum. By the age of 13 Jones was performing locally in Michigan and Ohio. While playing with territory bands in Grand Rapids and Lansing in 1944 he met Lucky Thompson, who invited Jones to work in New York City at the Onyx Club with Hot Lips Page.
 
In New York City, Jones regularly listened to leading bop musicians, and was inspired to master the new style. While practicing and studying the music he worked with John Kirby, Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Andy Kirk, and Billy Eckstine. In autumn 1947, he began touring in Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package, and from 1948 to 1953 he was accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald, and accompanying her in England in the fall of 1948, developed a harmonic facility of extraordinary taste and sophistication. During this period he also made several historically important recordings with Charlie Parker.
 
Engagements with Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman followed, and recordings with artists such as Lester Young, Cannonball Adderley, and Wes Montgomery, in addition to being for a time, 'house pianist' on the Savoy label. From 1959 through 1975 Jones was staff pianist for CBS studios. This included backing guests such as Frank Sinatra on The Ed Sullivan Show. He played the piano accompaniment to Marilyn Monroe as she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962. By the late 1970s, his involvement as pianist and conductor with the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' (based on the music of Fats Waller) had informed a wider audience of his unique qualities as a musician.
 
During the late 1970s and the 1980s, Jones continued to record prolifically, as an unaccompanied soloist, in duos with other pianists (including John Lewis and Tommy Flanagan), and with various small ensembles, most notably the Great Jazz Trio. The group took this name in 1976, by which time Jones had already begun working at the Village Vanguard with its original members, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. The trio also recorded with other all-star personnel, such as Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and Nancy Wilson. In the early 1980s Jones held a residency as a solo pianist at the Cafe Ziegfeld and made a tour of Japan, where he performed and recorded with George Duvivier and Sonny Stitt. Jones' versatility was more in evidence with the passage of time. He collaborated on recordings of Afro-pop with an ensemble from Mali and on an album of spirituals, hymns and folksongs with Charlie Haden called Steal Away (1995).
 
Some of his later recordings are For My Father (2005) with bassist George Mraz and drummer Dennis Mackrel, a solo piano recording issued in Japan under the title Round Midnight (2006), and as a side man on Joe Lovano's Joyous Encounter (2005). Jones made his debut on Lineage Records, recording with Frank Wess and with the guitarist Eddie Diehl, but also appeared on West of 5th (2006) with Jimmy Cobb and Christian McBride on Chesky Records. He also accompanied Diana Krall for "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on the album compilation, We all Love Ella (Verve 2007). He is one of the musicians who test and talk about the piano in the documentary Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037, released in November 2007.
 
In early 2000, the Hank Jones Quartet accompanied jazz singer Salena Jones at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho, and in 2006 at the Monterey Jazz Festival with both jazz singer Roberta Gambarini and the Oscar Peterson Trio. In June 2005, Jones was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music at 20th anniversary of jazz education at the Umbria Jazz Festival, in Perugia, Italy.
 
Hank died on 16 May 2010.
 
from Wikipedia
contact:
homepage: www.officialhankjones.com

 

Discography
Keepin' Up With The Joneses
MetroJazz E1003
released 1959
recorded March 1958 in New York City
Thad Jones, trumpet, flugelhorn
Hank Jones, organ, piano
Eddie Jones, bass
Elvin Jones, drums
Soul Groove
Atlantic SD 1431
released 1964
Johnny Griffin, tenor sax
Matthew Gee, trombone
John Patton, organ
Hank Jones, piano, organ
Aaron Bell, bass, tuba
Art Taylor, drums
Carlos "Patato" Valdes, congas, bongos
Every Day I Have The Blues
Bluesway BLS-6005
released 1967
recorded February 1967 in New York, NY/USA
Jimmy Rushing, vocals
Oliver Nelson, conductor
Bob Ashton, tenor sax
Buddy Tate, tenor sax
Dicky Wells, trombone
Clark Terry, trumpet
Kenny Burrell, guitar
Hugh McCracken, guitar
Wally Richardson, guitar
Dave Frishberg, piano
Hank Jones, organ, piano
Shirley Scott, organ
Bob Bushnell, bass
George Duvivier, bass
Joseph "Kaiser" Marshall, drums
Grady Tate, drums
Flying Home. The Best Of The Verve Years
Verve Records 314 521 644-2
released 1994
compilation
Illinois Jacquet, tenor sax
Earle Warren, alto sax
Ernie Henry, alto sax
Count Hastings, tenor sax
Ben Webster, tenor sax
Cecil Payne, baritone sax
Henry Coker, trombone
Matthew Gee, trombone
Elmon Wright, trumpet
Joe Newman, trumpet
Harry Edison, trumpet
Lamar Wright jr., trumpet
Russell Jacquet, trumpet
Roy Eldridge, trumpet
Oscar Moore, guitar
John Collins, guitar
Freddie Green, guitar
Joe Sinacore, guitar
Irving Ashby, guitar
Herb Ellis, guitar
Kenny Burrell, guitar
Johnny Acea, piano
Count Basie, organ
Wild Bill Davis, organ
Hank Jones, piano, organ
Jimmy Jones, piano
Carl Perkins, piano
Sir Charles Thompson, piano
Gerry Wiggins, organ
Red Callender, bass
Gene Ramey, bass
Al Lucas, bass
Ray Brown, bass
Curtis Counce, bass
J. C. Heard, drums
Art Blakey, drums
Shadow Wilson, drums
Jimmy Crawford, drums
Osie Johnson, drums
Al Bartee, drums
Jo Jones, drums
Johnny Williams, drums
Chino Pozo, congas

 
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