Dillwyn Owen Paton "Dill" Jones (19 August 1923 – 22 June 1984), was a Welsh

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

stride pianist.

Biography

Jones was born in

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenar ...

, Carmarthenshire, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in

New Quay New Quay ( cy, Cei Newydd) is a seaside town (and electoral ward) in Ceredigion, Wales, with a resident population of around 1,200 people, reducing to 1,082 at the 2011 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay with a harbour a ...

on the Cardiganshire coast. Music was in the family as his mother was a pianist and his aunt played organ at the Methodist Tabernacle. He was turned onto jazz as a 10-year-old by hearing records by Fats Waller and Bix Beiderbecke on the radio. After leaving college, Jones followed his father into banking but was called up by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

for wartime service in the Far East. When the war ended he enrolled at Trinity College of Music in London but did not complete the course, preferring the informality of late night jazz sessions. Jones joined the Harry Parry Sextet and Vic Lewis' Orchestra before plying his trade as ship's pianist on the luxury liner, the Queen Mary, sailing between New York City and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. This gave him the chance to visit New York's jazz clubs and hear

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

and

Lennie Tristano Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation. Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...

, among others. After forming the Dill Jones Quartet in 1959, he emigrated to the United States in 1961. Settling in New York City, he became an expert in the Harlem stride style. Jones was soon in demand, and earned his reputation playing with the likes of

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

Jimmy McPartland James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to pi ...

and

Yank Lawson John Rhea "Yank" Lawson (May 3, 1911 – February 18, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music. Born John Lausen in 1911, from 1933 to 1935 he worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and after that became a founding ...

. Between 1969–1973, Jones he was a member of the JPJ Quartet with

Budd Johnson Albert J. "Budd" Johnson III (December 14, 1910 – October 20, 1984) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with, among others, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke ...

, Oliver Jackson and Bill Pemberton. Jones never forgot his homeland, and in 1978 he came back to the UK to perform at the inaugural Welsh Jazz Festival in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. A double CD anthology of Dill Jones` work was released in 2004, entitled ''Davenport Blues – Dill Jones plays Bix, Jones and a Few Others''. Included amongst the 31 tracks are many of Jones' own compositions, including "New Quay Blues" and "There Are no Flowers in Tiger Bay". Jones also appears on several tracks on a fellow Welsh jazz musician's CD: ''Wyn Lodwick and Friends – My 50 Years In Jazz – featuring Dill Jones''.

Death

He died from throat cancer in a New York hospital on 22 June 1984 at the age of 60. ''Jet'' said he was "instrumental in bringing jazz to British television when he hosted the '' BBC Jazz Club''." He was honoured later that year at the National Eisteddfod in

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' ( colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion ...

by being posthumously admitted to the

Gorsedd of Bards A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually ...

, cited as "one of the leading jazz pianists in the world". ''The New York Times'' wrote in his obituary "A versatile, accomplished pianist, he was a master of the Harlem stride style of Fats Waller and a well-known interpreter of the piano music of Bix Beiderbecke".

Select discography

With Kenny Davern

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dill 1923 births 1984 deaths People educated at Llandovery College Stride pianists Welsh jazz pianists 20th-century British pianists 20th-century British musicians Harlem Blues and Jazz Band members Royal Navy personnel of World War II