Thad Jones
 |
Thad Jones |
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (
March 28,
1923 â€"
August 21,
1986) was an
American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.
He was born in
Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten (an older brother was pianist
Hank Jones and a younger brother was drummer
Elvin Jones). Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen. He served in
U.S. Army bands during
World War II (1943-46).
After the war, Thad Jones continued his professional music career, eventually winding up with
Count Basie in 1954, for whom he arranged, composed, and performed. He stayed with Basie for nine years. Thad achieved critical acclaim during this time, but not for his work with Basie. Much of Jones' music was stylistically original and didn't always fit in with the Basie group. In the early sixties he became a free lance arranger and performer in the
New York area.
In 1965 he and drummer
Mel Lewis formed the
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. The group initially began with informal late night jam sessions amongst New York's top studio musicians. The group eventually began performing at the Village Vanguard, to wide acclaim, and continued with Jones in the lead for twelve years. In 1979 they won a
Grammy Award for their album
Live in Munich. Jones also taught at
William Paterson College in New Jersey.
In 1978 Thad suddenly moved to
Copenhagen,
Denmark, (to the great surprise of his New York band mates), where several other American jazz musicians had gone to live. There, he formed a new band
Eclipse, composed for The
Danish Radio Big Band and taught jazz at the
Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen.
A year before his death, Jones came back to the U.S. to lead the
Count Basie Orchestra but had to step down due to ill health. He returned to his home in Copenhagen for the last few months of his life. He is buried there in the
Vestre Kirkegard Cemetery (Western Churchyard Cemetery).
Charles Mingus called Jones "...the greatest trumpet player I've heard in this life." In later years his playing ability was overshadowed by his composing and arranging skills. His best known composition is the standard
A Child is Born.
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Thad Jones at Find-A-Grave
