- Jonah Jones
Jonah Jones (born Robert Elliott Jones on
December 31 ,1909 inLouisville, Kentucky ; diedApril 29 ,2000 inNew York City ) was a jazz trumpeter who is perhaps best known for making concised versions of jazz and swing standards that appealed to a mass audience. In jazz he might be best appreciated for his work withStuff Smith . He was sometimes referred to as "King Louis II."He began in the 1920s playing on Mississippi riverboats and then in 1928 he joined with
Horace Henderson . Later he worked withJimmie Lunceford and had an early collaboration with Stuff Smith in 1932. From 1932-1936 he had a successful collaboration with Smith, but in the 1940s he worked in big bands likeBenny Carter 's andFletcher Henderson . He would spend most of decade withCab Calloway 's band which later became a combo.Starting in the 1950s he had his own quartet and began concentrating on a formula which gained him wider appeal for a decade. The most mentioned accomplishment of this style is perhaps their version of "On The Street Where You Live." 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 won at theGrammy Awards of 1960 . That stated in 1972 he made a return to more "core" jazz work withEarl Hines .He was inducted into the
Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999 and died the following year.Discography
*"Jonah Jumps Again: The Jonah Jones Quartet" (Capitol ST-1115) (Released 19xx)Eliot jones has a square head
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