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Hank Jones

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. For other people, see Henry Jones.

Hank Jones
Jones in 1985
Jones in 1985
Background information
Birth nameHenry Jones Jr.
Born(1918-07-31)July 31, 1918
Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 2010(2010-05-16) (aged 91)
New York City, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
InstrumentPiano
Years active1944–2010
Labels
Websiteofficialhankjones.com

Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010)[1] was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable.[2] In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award.[3] He was also honored in 2003 with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award.[4] In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford presented Jones with an honorary Doctorate of Music for his musical accomplishments.[5]

Jones recorded more than 60 albums under his own name, and countless others as a sideman,[6] including Cannonball Adderley's celebrated album Somethin' Else. On May 19, 1962, he played piano as actress Marilyn Monroe sang her famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" song to then U.S. president John F. Kennedy.[7]

Biography

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Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Henry "Hank" Jones moved to Pontiac, Michigan, where his father, Henry Jones Sr., a Baptist deacon and lumber inspector, bought a three-story brick home. One of seven children, Jones 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.[8] 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.[9][10]

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.[10] Hawkins made the first recording of Jones' composition "Angel Face" (1947), which has gone on to be covered a number of times.[11] In autumn 1947, Jones began touring in Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package,[10] and from 1948 to 1953 he was an accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald, and accompanying her in England in the fall of 1948,[12] developed a harmonic facility of extraordinary taste and sophistication. During this period he also made several historically important recordings with Charlie Parker, which included "The Song Is You", from the Now's the Time album, recorded in December 1952, with Teddy Kotick on bass and Max Roach on drums.

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. In 1955, Jones recorded a highly regarded trio album with bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Kenny Clarke. From 1959 through 1975, Jones was staff pianist for CBS studios.[13] This included backing guests such as Frank Sinatra on The Ed Sullivan Show,[14] but he recorded relatively little as a leader between 1958 and 1975. He played the piano accompaniment to Marilyn Monroe as she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962.[1] During the 1960s, he did continue to make jazz recordings as a sideman and accompanist, appearing on albums by notable artists such as guitarist Johnny Smith, tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, and vocalists Johnny Hartman and Nancy Wilson. 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 recorded prolifically, as an unaccompanied soloist, in duos with other pianists (including John Lewis, Tommy Flanagan, and George Shearing) 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 (it was Buster Williams rather than Carter, however, who took part in the trio's first recording session in 1976); by 1980 Jones' sidemen were Eddie Gómez and Al Foster, and in 1982 Jimmy Cobb replaced Foster. 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 an Afro-pop ensemble from Mali and on two albums of spirituals, hymns, and folksongs with Charlie Haden, titled Steal Away (1995) and Come Sunday (2010).

Other later recordings include the trio album 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 sideman recordings on three albums by saxophonist Joe Lovano. Jones made his debut on Lineage Records, recording with Frank Wess and with the guitarist Eddie Diehl and also appeared on West of 5th (2006) with Jimmy Cobb and Christian McBride on Chesky Records. In addition, he accompanied vocalists Roberta Gambarini on the acclaimed album You Are There (EmArcy, 2007) and Diana Krall for "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on the album compilation We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song (Verve, 2007). Jones 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.[15]

Even late in life, Jones continued to practice assiduously: "You have to stay in shape, so I do scales and exercises three or four hours a day, and then I practise sight-reading," he said at age 78.[16]

Jones lived in Cresskill, NJ, upstate New York and in Manhattan. He died at a Calvary Hospital Hospice in The Bronx, New York, on May 16, 2010, survived by his wife Theodosia.[17]

Recognition and Awards

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Despite his relatively low-profile career, Jones was highly regarded by his colleagues. Oscar Peterson said his "roots" went back to Art Tatum and Jones.[18] He also named Jones as one of the great "long-line players" in jazz, along with Bill Evans and Cedar Walton.[19] Ahmad Jamal praised Jones for his "wonderful touch."[20] Keith Jarrett described Jones' playing as "Tasty. Beyond just tasty. No, it's stimulating. Tasty and stimulating."[21] John Lewis named Jones one of the pianists he listened to most often.[22] André Previn called Jones his favorite pianist, "regardless of idiom."[23] And George Shearing said that Jones was one of his "strongest influences" and that he's "one of the most underrated pianists in the business. He has a beautiful, deep sound, clarity, and a sense of economy. Impeccable taste."[24]

Younger pianists have also expressed their indebtedness to and admiration for Jones, including Kenny Barron,[25] Bill Charlap, Eric Reed, and Geoffrey Keezer,[26] who recorded an album of Jones' compositions for Telarc in piano duos with Barron, Chick Corea, Benny Green, and Mulgrew Miller.[27]

Grammy history
  • Career Wins: 2009: Lifetime Achievement Grammy
  • Career Nominations: 5[28]
Hank Jones Grammy Awards History
Year Category Title Genre Label Result
1977 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Soloist "Bop Redux" Jazz Muse Nominee
1980 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Soloist "I Remember You" Jazz Black & Blue Nominee
1980 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Group "I Remember You" Jazz Black & Blue Nominee
1995 Best Jazz Instrumental Solo "Go Down Moses" Jazz Verve Nominee
1995 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Individual or Group "Steal Away" Jazz Verve Nominee

Discography

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Main article: Hank Jones discography

References

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  1. ^ a b Charlie. "The Dead Rock Stars Club January to June 2010". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  2. ^ According to Arnold Jay Smith (in "The Impeccable Hank Jones", Down Beat, July 31, 1976), Jones was branded "the impeccable one" by WRVR-FM jazz historian Ed Beach.
  3. ^ National Endowment for the Arts: Henry "Hank" Jones Archived October 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame". ASCAP. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
  5. ^ Chuck Obuchowski (April 15, 2009). "Hank Jones Teaches A Lesson From The Piano". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Featured Artist: The Great Jazz Trio", Jazz Review, Archived October 23, 2004, at the Wayback Machine,
  7. ^ "Hank Jones: The Man Who Accompanied Marilyn", The Marilyn Monroe Collection Blog, February 4, 2009.
  8. ^ "Henry 'Hank' Jones bio". Enotes.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, 1995, p. 2206. ISBN 1-56159-176-9
  10. ^ a b c "Hank Jones facts, information, pictures". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  11. ^ "Angel Face". SecondHandSongs.com. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  12. ^ Feather, Leonard. Inside Jazz, Da Capo Press, 1988, p. 89. ISBN 0-306-80076-4
  13. ^ "Interview: 90-Year-Old Jazz Pianist Hank Jones" Archived December 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, The Village Voice, November 11, 2008.
  14. ^ "Thanking Hank: A Salute to Hank Jones" (PDF). April 10, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
  15. ^ "Hank Jones, Mccoy Tyner, Enrico Rava Honored by Berklee College of Music at Umbria Jazz". Home.nestor.minsk.by. 2005. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  16. ^ "Accomplished accompanist to jazz greats". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  17. ^ Keepnews, Peter (May 17, 2010), "Hank Jones, Versatile Jazz Pianist, Is Dead at 91", The New York Times.
  18. ^ Lyons, Len. The Great Jazz Pianists, Da Capo Press, 1983, pp. 140-41
  19. ^ Lyons, p. 134.
  20. ^ "Interview with Ahmad Jamal". JoeAltermanMusic.com. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  21. ^ "Interview with Keith Jarrett". EthanIverson.com. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  22. ^ Lyons, p. 80.
  23. ^ "Accomplished accompanist to jazz greats". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  24. ^ Lyons, p. 97.
  25. ^ "Readers Poll / Hall of Fame: The Quiet Elegance of Kenny Barron". DownBeat.com. DownBeat. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  26. ^ "Hank Jones Trio". LAPhil.com. Los Angeles Philharmonic. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  27. ^ "Sublime: Honoring The Music Of Hank Jones". Concord.com. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  28. ^ "The Envelope: Hollywood's Awards and Industry Insider - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
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