Henry W. Jones was born in 1918 in Mississippi. By the age of 13, Jones was already performing with territory bands, and by 1944 he moved to New York at the recommendation of Lucky Thompson, to join the band of Hot Lips Page, with whom he made his first recordings for the Continental label. While freelancing with Andy Kirk, Billy Eckstein, John Kirby, Coleman Hawkins and Howard McGhee, Jones developed his own style. Freely mixing the newer idioms of Bud Powell and Al Haig with that of his main mentor, Art Tatum, Jones rose quickly to the top shelf of jazz pianists.

In late 1947, he joined the Jazz at the Philharmonic, and from 1948 to 1953 he became the pianist for Ella Fitzgerald. During this period Jones also made several recordings for Norman Granz's various labels, including historical sessions with Charlie Parker and Lester Young. After leaving Ella, he formed a steady rhythm section with Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton and Osie Johnson. This unit recorded with some of the finest talent in New York at the time, like Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Rex Stewart and many others.

After several years as a freelance player, including a brief stay with Benny Goodman (1956) and Artie Shaw, Jones joined the staff of CBS records, where he stayed for the next seventeen years, until the staff was disbanded in 1976. During this period he worked with large studio bands, performing on some of the top radio and TV programs, such as the Ed Sullivan Show, but continued to lead jazz groups (mostly trios) through the eighties, showcasing the talents of Ron Carter, Buster Williams, or George Duvivier on bass and Tony Williams, Al Foster, or Oliver Jackson on drums. His recordings fronting The Great Jazz Trio were multi-awarded in Japan, where he is almost a "national hero". During this period, Jones also did important duo recordings with fellow pianist Tommy Flanagan.

During the nineties Jones has been leading his own trios featuring some of the finest young musicians in the world, like drummers Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Lewis Nash or Kenny Washington, and bassists like Ray Drummond and George Mraz. His music is in great demand as the years go by, and he does an average of 70 concerts a year overseas, mostly in Japan and Europe, on top of his busy agenda at home.

Hank Jones is regarded today as the father of contemporary Jazz piano, and his influence can be heard in the work of most every jazz pianist in the world: the so-called Detroit Piano School is, in fact, the Hank Jones School, and musicians such as Barry Harris, Kenny Barron or Tommy Flanagan regard Hank Jones as a strong influence on their careers.

He displayed his mastery recently at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, playing stunning duets along with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Don't miss this stately gentleman of jazz on June 29th at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem.

The free bi-weekly Harlem Speaks series is produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem's Executive Director, Loren Schoenberg, Co-Director Christian McBride, and Greg Thomas Associates. The series occurs at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm-8:00pm.

The Jazz Museum in Harlem
104 East 126th Street
New York, NY 10035
212 348-8300
www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/