Dill Jones

Dillwyn Owen Paton Jones, or Dill Jones (19 August 1923 - 22 June 1984), was a Welsh jazz stride pianist.

Biography

Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast. Music was in the family as his mother was a pianist and his aunt played organ at the Methodist Tabernacle. He was turned onto jazz as a 10-year-old by hearing records by Fats Waller and Bix Beiderbecke on the radio.

After leaving college Jones followed his father into banking but was called up by the Royal Navy for wartime service in the Far East. When the war ended he enrolled at Trinity College of Music in London but did not complete the course, preferring the informality of late night jazz sessions.

Jones joined the Harry Parry Sextet and Vic Lewis' Orchestra before plying his trade as ship's pianist on the luxury liner, the Queen Mary, sailing between New York and Southampton. This gave him the chance to visit New York's jazz clubs and see the likes of Coleman Hawkins and Lennie Tristano. He emigrated to the United States in 1961. Jones was soon in demand, and earned his reputation playing with the likes of Gene Krupa, Jimmy McPartland and Yank Lawson.

Jones never forgot his homeland, and in 1978 he came back to the U.K. to perform at the inaugural Welsh Jazz Festival in Cardiff.

He died from throat cancer in a New York hospital on 22 June 1984 at the age of 60.

He was honoured later that year at the National Eisteddfod in Lampeter by being posthumously admitted to the Gorsedd of Bards, cited as "one of the leading jazz pianists in the world".

A double CD anthology of Dill Jones` work was released in 2004, entitled Davenport Blues - Dill Jones plays Bix, Jones And A Few Others. Included amongst the 31 tracks are many of Jones' own compositions, including "New Quay Blues" and "There Are no Flowers In Tiger Bay".

Jones also appears on several tracks on a fellow Welsh jazz musician's CD: Wyn Lodwick and Friends - My 50 Years In Jazz - featuring Dill Jones.

Select discography

Released	Album	Notes	Label
2004	Davenport Blues	Probably a re-release	Chiaroscuro Records

With Kenny Davern

Released	Album	Notes	Label
2001-05-01	A Night with Eddie Condon	Kenny Davern album	Arbors Records

External links

• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E6D91439F935A15755C0A962948260
• http://hankoneal.com/blog/2010/08/28/146-dill-jones-august-19-1923-june-22-1984.html

Persondata
Name	Jones, Dill
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 August 1923
Place of birth
Date of death	22 June 1984
Place of death