Willie Jones (drummer)
American jazz drummer
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William Jones Jr. (October 20, 1929 – April 1991) was a jazz drummer.[1] He is known for playing and recording with Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Elmo Hope, and Charles Mingus.[1]
Biography
Jones was born in New York on October 20, 1929.[1] He mainly taught himself to play the drums,[1] and played left handed.[2]: 164 He played and recorded with pianist Thelonious Monk in 1953,[1] including on the album Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. This recording, on November 13, was Jones' first.[2] He also appeared with Monk on the television program The Tonight Show, on June 10, 1955.[2]: 187 Jones was sideman for another pianist's recording in 1955 – Elmo Hope's Meditations;[3]: 723 and for Randy Weston's The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston in the following year.[3]: 1491 In 1956 Jones had a two-week engagement with Monk in Philadelphia.[2]: 212 Jones also played with Kenny Dorham, J. J. Johnson, Charlie Parker, and Cecil Payne in the mid-1950s.[1]
In 1955–56 Jones was part of Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop,[1] and was the drummer in the bassist's band that recorded Pithecanthropus Erectus, which helped develop a freer form of group improvisation.[3]: 1001 Jones was tenor saxophonist Lester Young's drummer from late 1956 to early 1959.[1] In 1961, Jones played on Sun Ra's The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.[1][4] After this, nothing is known about Jones, and his date of death was taken from social security records.[1] These associations – with the traditional Young and the avant-garde Sun Ra – illustrated Jones' versatility.[5]
Discography
As sideman
| Year recorded | Leader | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Thelonious Monk | Monk | Prestige |
| 1953 | Thelonious Monk | Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins | Prestige |
| 1955 | Elmo Hope | Meditations | Prestige |
| 1955 | Charles Mingus | Mingus at the Bohemia | Debut |
| 1956 | Randy Weston | The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston | Dawn |
| 1956 | Charles Mingus | Pithecanthropus Erectus | Atlantic |
| 1961 | Sun Ra | The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra | Savoy |