Piano | 1918-2010

Hank Jones was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 31, 1918, the eldest of three brothers who between them defined three instruments in jazz: Hank on piano, Thad on cornet and flugelhorn, Elvin on drums. He grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, was performing professionally at thirteen with territory bands, and arrived in New York in 1944 after saxophonist Lucky Thompson recommended him to Hot Lips Page. His move to New York coincided with bebop's emergence on 52nd Street, and Jones absorbed the style without losing the lyrical clarity that had come from his earlier grounding in Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. He recorded with Charlie Parker for Verve, served as Savoy Records' house pianist appearing on hundreds of sides, and toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1947 to 1951. He was Ella Fitzgerald's regular accompanist from 1948 to 1953, and his accompanist's instinct was fine enough that on May 19, 1962, he played piano as Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. From 1959 to 1975 he was staff pianist at CBS studios, then spent the late 1970s as pianist and music director for "Ain't Misbehavin'," the Broadway revue built on Fats Waller's music. His own recordings as a leader, spread across Savoy, Verve, Capitol, Argo, Impulse!, Chesky and Concord, run to over sixty albums. He received the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989 and the National Medal of Arts in 2008. Jones died in New York City on May 16, 2010, aged 91.