ABSTRACT

American saxophonist, songwriter, and big band leader, born Jonathan Jones in Coalton, Ohio, on 31 Jan 1894. He played in groups in Chicago from 1915, and had his own band there in the 1920s, heard most often at the Hotel Sherman. Gordon Jenkins was one of the arrangers who gave the Jones band a sophisticated sound. Pee Wee Erwin and Woody Herman were among the band members. Jones’s most successful composition, “It Had to Be You,” was recorded, like most of his discs in 1920-1932, for Brunswick (#2614; 1924). “Stardust” (Brunswick #4856; 1931) was one of the most successful later discs. In 1932 he moved to Victor, and made some of the early experimental long-playing (LP) records there. When the band broke up in 1936,Woody Herman brought many of the players into his own new group. Jones continued performing with various groups and vocalists into the 1950s. He died in Hollywood, Florida. CD reissues include 1922-26 (Timeless 67), featuring some of his earliest recordings that were enlivened by trumpeter Louis Panico. His later band recordings are highlighted on Plays His Own Compositions (Swing Time 2011), featuring Jenkins’s arrangements.