Born and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Jones's parents encouraged his childhood musical development. Already a skilled drummer by high school, his mother drove him to Indianapolis, Indiana, to perform with Wes Montgomery, who left the stage with his band while Jones played a twenty-minute drum solo. He attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago on a scholarship, then took work where he could find it, including theaters and night clubs. In 1967, while house drummer at the Chicago Playboy Club, he was invited to New York for what was intended to be a two-week engagement with Count Basie's orchestra but which lasted five years. Jones played on fifteen albums with Basie. He also appears in a scene featuring the Basie band in the movie Blazing Saddles. Jones says he was an avid student of other drummers, but he was especially influenced by one of Basie's drummers. "I am proud to say that I took everything that I could from Sonny Payne," he told an interviewer. After leaving the Basie band, Jones was much in demand. He toured with Ella Fitzgerald, then for ten years with Sarah Vaughan. He also toured and recorded with Natalie Cole, including on her album Unforgettable... with Love. In 1962, he was a member of the Paul Winter Sextet, the first jazz group to play at the White House since the 1920s. The group had finished a tour of Latin America on behalf of United States Cultural Exchange Programs. Jones has played at the White House five times. Still a touring drummer, Jones also teaches drumming at college workshops.
Personal life
Jones has lived for many years with his second wife Denise in Woodacre, California. The pair married June 9, 1983, and they have a son. Jones married his first wife, Paulette, in 1961. During their ten-year marriage they had a son and a daughter. Jones's brother, Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, was a blues and soul organist.
Awards and accolades
In 2013 Jones was inducted into the Percussive Arts SocietyHall of Fame. In 1972 he won Best New Artist in the Down Beat magazine critics' poll. Saxophonist and band leaderPaul Winter called Jones "the personification off jazz." Music critic Bruce H. Klauber has written that, "Jones is the quintessential big-band drummer with a crisp, clean sound notable for the high-pitched snare drum crack." Critic Jess Hamlin called Jones, "One of the best drummers in the business." Basie is said to have told drummer Louie Bellson that "Harold Jones was my favorite drummer." Jones is the subject of a biography published in 2011, Harold Jones: The Singer's Drummer.
Discography
Unless otherwise noted, Information is based on Harold Jones' AllMusic web page With Eddie Harris Jazz Band
