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Thad Jones
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's music was stylistically original and didn't always fit in with the Basie group which he left in 1963. 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 died on August 21, 1986 after being hospitalized for months but his cause of death was not published. At the time of his death he had a six year old child, also named Thad Jones, with his wife Lis Jones. 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 Centennial
by David Demsey
On March 28, 2023, the great arranger, bandleader, cornetist, and composer Thad Jones (1923-1986) would have turned 100 years old. As influential as he was during his lifetime, that influence has grown even more pervasive since his death. Thad was a Detroit native, a member of one of the “royal families" of jazz: His brothers were pianist Hank Jones, giant of the jazz scene as well as of the New York City recording studios; and drummer Elvin Jones, ...
read moreBruce Jones: Growing Up With Jazz
by La-Faithia White
The impact of living in a musical household, witnessing your dad and your uncles jamming in the basement can definitely create a positive and meaningful outlook for a young kid. Stories of growing up jazz come to mind for Bruce Jones, the eldest son of trumpeter, composer, and band leader Thad Jones. Bruce is also the nephew of pianist, arranger, composer and band leader Hank Jones, and nephew of drummer and band leader Elvin Jones. Bruce is the ...
read moreThad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation – 1970
by Marc Davis
Blue Note was never home to many big bands, but the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra recorded four albums for the label from 1967-70, and one is a certified classic. Consummation is the musical equivalent of Neapolitan ice cream--three flavors packed into one large container. The album contains three moods: soft and contemplative, sprightly and upbeat, and soulful and funky. Each gets two or three songs, and together they make a tasty treat. The record begins with ...
read moreThad Jones: The Magnificent Thad Jones
by Greg Simmons
It's all about the swing. Featured in the Count Basie Orchestra, one of the hardest swinging bands ever, Thad Jones had more swing in his little toe then most musicians will ever dream of. Even when he slowed the tempo he still swung, and his second date as a leader for Blue Note Records, The Magnificent Thad Jones, swings more at mid-tempo than almost any record I know. The rhythm on this record is a relentless pendulum: It swings left; ...
read moreThad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra: All My Yesterdays
by Angelo Leonardi
La Resonance Records ha appena pubblicato (in un lussuoso cofanetto di due CD più un libro di 92 pagine), le primissime incisioni della Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, riprese al Village Vanguard il 7 febbraio e il 21 marzo 1966. Sono trascorsi 50 anni dalla nascita della formazione e, agli inizi di febbraio, lo storico club ha festeggiato l'avvenimento con una settimana di concerti della Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, che dopo il decesso dei due fondatori ne rappresenta la continuazione. ...
read moreThad Jones and Mel Lewis: All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Recordings at the Village Vanguard
by C. Michael Bailey
Offering: Live at Temple University (Resonance Records, 2014), Getz/Gilberto '76 (Resonance Records, 2016), Moments in Time (Resonance Records, 2016)...and these are just the most recent (not to forget several Wes Montgomery) releases. Resonance Records steps up (again) and releases what can only be considered the apotheosis of live jazz performance, All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Recordings at the Village Vanguard. Before even considering the music, there is the captured ambiance. Recorded by a then 19-year old amateur ...
read moreThe Magnificent Thad Jones – Blue Note 1527
by Marc Davis
Man does not live by hard bop alone, even on Blue Note. Sometimes, you just got to have a ballad. When you're in the mood, this is the record for you. Thad Jones provides the horn, and he has never been better. Jones is best known as co-leader of the big band that bore his name, but this 1956 recording is his break-out moment as both a small-group leader and trumpeter. And while you may think of Jones ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
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Thad Jones/Mel Lewis: Groove Merchant
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra was one of the last great big bands. Formed in 1965, the orchestra played Monday nights at New York's Village Vanguard and recorded and toured extensively, including a swing through the Soviet Union in 1972. When Jones decided to move to Copenhagen in 1978, the band became known as the Mel Lewis Orchestra. When Lewis died in 1990, it became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. The band won two Grammys, one in 1979 and the other ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
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Thad, Hank and Elvin Jones
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
It's not surprising that Thad Jones, Hank Jones and Elvin Jones were jazz musicians. What is astonishing is that all three were exceptional, each with a distinctive and accomplished playing and recording career. By my count, the three brothers recorded together four times, on Keeping Up With the Joneses (1958), Herb Geller's Gypsy (1959) and Elvin Jones's And Then Again (1965) and Midnight Walk (1966). The first album was their best. Recorded for Metrojazz, an MGM subsidiary, in May 1958, ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
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Thad Jones: Rehearsal Session
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In February 1977 (I'm guessing), Thad Jones was rehearsing his orchestra in preparation for a performance with Dexter Gordon as guest soloist. I've narrowed the year to '77 because Gordon returned to the U.S. in 1976 and signed with Columbia and Jones left for Denmark abruptly in 1979. Gordon's famed Homecoming recording was in December '76. Since it's clear from the following video that the date was his birthday, I've narrowed the day to February 27, 1977. Last year, a ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
read more
Thad Jones: Consummation
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday was an especially busy day from a writing perspective. To clear my head and stay focused, I put on Consummation by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. I have no idea why I reached for it. I haven't heard the album in years. I bought the record when it first came out in 1970, and I probably wanted to re-hear the variation of smart orchestral pieces that Thad Jones composed and arranged When I put on the album, it ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thad Jones
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thad Jones' birthday today!
Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923- 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 ...
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Thad Jones
Instrument: Trumpet
Born: March 28, 1923
Died: August 21, 1986
