Hank Jones was the eldest of three Jones brothers to make their mark on the jazz world. But unlike cornetist Thad and drummer Elvin, Hank didn’t seek out the spotlight, mostly toiling in anonymity for CBS’ music department while his brothers won fame as bandleaders and sidemen. But his self-effacing manner belied his stature as one of the greatest jazz pianists of the postwar era.
The eldest son among seven siblings, Jones grew up near Detroit, where his father, a Baptist church deacon, played blues guitar. His mother introduced him to the sounds of such early jazz giants as Fats Waller and Earl Hines. Known for his light touch and his embrace of bebop’s complex phrasing, Jones was considered a “pianist’s pianist,” said Washington City Paper. He did “a lot of little things on the keyboard,” said fellow pianist Billy Taylor, “that you really have to be a pianist to appreciate.”
Jones didn’t take immediately to the piano, said Jazz Times. “I had classical lessons at first,” he said in a 2009 interview, “but I wasn’t much for practicing.” But by the time he reached his teens, he was playing professionally in big bands that toured the Midwest. He moved to New York City in 1944 and was soon backing such luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, and Miles Davis. “People heard me and said, ‘Well, this is not just a boy from the country—maybe he knows a few chords.’”
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In 1959, he opted for a measure of financial security as the top pianist in CBS’ in-house music department. “More often than not, he was heard but not seen on The Ed Sullivan Show and other television and radio programs,” said The New York Times. After the department disbanded, Jones began to achieve more public renown, forming the Great Jazz Trio in 1976 with drummer Tony Williams and bassist Ron Carter. By the early 1980s, Jones’ “late-blooming career as a leader was in full swing,” and he recorded well-received albums with bassist Charlie Haden, singer Roberta Gambarini, and musicians from Mali.
Jones was named a National Endowment for the Arts jazz master in 1989. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2008 and last year was awarded a lifetime achievement Grammy Award.
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