- Jimmy Jones (pianist)
James Henry "Jimmy" Jones (December 30, 1918,
Memphis, Tennessee - April 29, 1982,Burbank ,Los Angeles ) was an Americanjazz pianist and arranger.Biography
As a child, Jones learned guitar and piano. He worked in various orchestras in
Chicago from 1936 and played in a trio withStuff Smith in 1943-45. Following this, he played withDon Byas ,Dizzy Gillespie (1945),J.C. Heard (1945-47),Buck Clayton (1946) andEtta Jones . He accompaniedSarah Vaughan from 1947-52, and then again from 1954-57 after a long illness. In 1954 he played on an album withClifford Brown and accompanied him on his European tour. Around this time, he also played withHelen Merrill andGil Evans . In 1959, he accompaniedAnita O'Day in her appearance at theNewport Jazz Festival , and in 1959 also worked withDakota Staton ,Pat Suzuki , andMorgana King .As a pianist and arranger in New York, he worked in the 1960s with
Harry Belafonte ,Johnny Hodges ,Budd Johnson ,Nat Gonella , andClark Terry . He accompaniedChris Connor on "Where Flamingoes Fly", led theDuke Ellington Orchestra and acted as a substitute pianist forDuke Ellington in the ensemble when they accompaniedElla Fitzgerald . He went on tour withJazz at the Philharmonic in 1967. In the 1970s, he worked withKenny Burrell andCannonball Adderley .In the course of his career, Jones played piano on recordings by
Harry Sweets Edison ,Ben Webster ,Big Joe Turner ,Coleman Hawkins ,Frank Wess ,Milt Jackson ,Sidney Bechet ,Sonny Rollins ,Sonny Stitt , andThad Jones , and as an arranger forWes Montgomery ,Nancy Wilson ,Shirley Horn , Joe Williams,Billy Taylor andChris Connor .Discography as leader
* "Jimmy Jones' Big Eight": "
Rex Stewart And the Ellingtonias" (Riverside, OJC, 1946) withHarry Carney ,Lawrence Brown ,Otto Hardwick ,Ted Nash ,Billy Taylor ,Shelly Manne
* "Jimmy Jones' Big Four": "Giants of Small Band Swing, Vol. 1 & 2" (Riverside, OJC, 1946) withBudd Johnson ,Al Hall ,Denzil Best
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