Hank Jones

Hank Jones, born Henry Jones Jr. on July 31, 1918, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer who also appeared on Broadway. He died on May 16, 2010. Raised in Pontiac, Michigan, Jones was one of ten children born to Henry Jones Sr., a Baptist deacon and lumber inspector, and Olivia Jones, who sang. Two of his younger brothers, Thad and Elvin, became prominent jazz musicians as a trumpeter and drummer, respectively. Jones began formal piano study at an early age under Pauline McCann, whose classical instruction led him to approach music, in his own words, "more clearly and more logically." Bach, Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel were among the composers he credited as influences throughout his career.

Despite his father's view that jazz was unsuitable work, Jones was drawn to the style and absorbed the playing of Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Teddy Wilson. He identified Tatum as his all-time favorite, and a well-known anecdote holds that upon first hearing Tatum's 1933 recording of "Tiger Rag," Jones asked how many pianists were playing. By age thirteen he was performing locally in Michigan and Ohio, and in 1944, while working with territory bands in Grand Rapids and Lansing, he met saxophonist Lucky Thompson, who brought him to New York City to perform at the Onyx Club with Hot Lips Page.

In New York, Jones studied the bebop style being developed by musicians including Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, while working alongside John Kirby, Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Andy Kirk, and Billy Eckstine. Hawkins recorded Jones's composition "Angel Face" in 1947, a piece Jones would later revisit with Milt Jackson in 1956 and as a trio leader in 1978. Beginning in the autumn of 1947, Jones toured with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic, and from 1948 to 1953 he served as accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald. During this period he also recorded with Charlie Parker, including "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, including Jones's participation in Shaw's final small-group recording sessions before retirement. He became the house pianist for Savoy Records, recording a trio album in 1955 with bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Kenny Clarke, as well as sessions with Donald Byrd and Bobby Jaspar.

Jones made his Broadway appearance in 1957 in the musical Copper and Brass. His connection to the Broadway stage extended further into the late 1970s, when his work as pianist and conductor on Ain't Misbehavin', the musical built around the music of Fats Waller, brought his playing to a broader audience.

From 1959 through 1975, Jones held the position of staff pianist at CBS studios, a post he obtained through the support of singer Andy Williams. In that role he performed on The Garry Moore Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show, at times accompanying singers including Frank Sinatra. In 1961 he played on the score Kenyon Hopkins composed for the Paul Newman film The Hustler, which featured alto saxophonist Phil Woods and included a solo piano piece titled "Derby Time." On May 19, 1962, Jones accompanied Marilyn Monroe at the piano as she sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F. Kennedy. He later recalled that the sixteen bars of music required eight hours of rehearsal and that Monroe, though genuinely a capable singer, was hampered on that occasion by nerves and by having, as he put it, "imbibed rather freely." During his CBS years Jones continued recording as a sideman, appearing on albums by guitarist Johnny Smith, tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, and vocalists Johnny Hartman and Nancy Wilson, among others.

In the late 1970s and through the 1980s, Jones recorded extensively as an unaccompanied soloist, in duo settings with pianists including John Lewis, Tommy Flanagan, and George Shearing, and with the Great Jazz Trio, which recorded primarily for the Japanese label East Wind Records. The group's name was given by the label's A&R staff in 1976, by which point Jones had already been performing at the Village Vanguard with the trio's original members, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Buster Williams rather than Carter participated in the first recording session in 1976, but the following seven recordings, including three live sessions at the Vanguard in 1977, featured the original lineup. By 1980 the group's personnel included Eddie Gómez and Al Foster, with Jimmy Cobb replacing Foster in 1982. The trio also recorded with additional musicians such as Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and Nancy Wilson. Jones continued working with various configurations of the Great Jazz Trio, including one featuring his brother Elvin and bassist Richard Davis, until the end of his life. He is estimated to have appeared on over a thousand recordings as a sideman and recorded more than sixty albums under his own name, among them contributions to Cannonball Adderley's celebrated album Somethin' Else with Miles Davis.

Jones received significant recognition across his career. In 1989 the National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. In 2003 the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers presented him with its Jazz Living Legend Award. In 2008 he received the National Medal of Arts, and on April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Music.