Thad Jones是自学的音乐,他在16岁的时候开始小号表演。在世界二次大战时期他参加过美国陆军。他加入过伯爵乐队,在乐队待了九年。这段时间Thad Jones取得一致好评。后来Thad Jones的大部分音乐风格并不总是配合贝西组,所以他离开了。60年代早期,在纽约地区他成为自由职业者和表演者。
by Scott Yanow
A harmonically advanced trumpeter/cornetist with a distinctive sound and a talented arranger/composer, Thad Jones (the younger brother of Hank and older brother of Elvin) had a very productive career. Self-taught on trumpet, he started playing professionally when he was 16 with Hank Jones and Sonny Stitt. After serving in the military (1943-46), Jones worked in territory bands in the Midwest. During 1950-53 he performed regularly with Billy Mitchells quintet in Detroit and he made a few recordings with Charles Mingus (1954-55). Jones became well-known during his long period (1954-63) with Count Basies Orchestra, taking a Pop Goes the Weasel chorus on April in Paris and sharing solo duties with Joe Newman. While with Basie, Jones had the opportunity to write some arrangements and he became a busy freelance writer after 1963. He joined the staff of CBS, co-led a quintet with Pepper Adams and near the end of 1965 organized a big band with drummer Mel Lewis that from February 1966 on played Monday nights at the Village Vanguard. During the next decade the orchestra (although always a part-time affair) became famous and gave Jones an outlet for his writing. He composed one standard (A Child Is Born) along with many fine pieces including Fingers, Little Pixie and Tiptoe. Among the sidemen in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra (which started out as an all-star group and later on featured younger players) were trumpeters Bill Berry, Danny Stiles, Richard Williams, Marvin Stamm, Snooky Young, and Jon Faddis, trombonists Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Knepper and Quentin Jackson, the reeds of Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Eddie Daniels, Joe Farrell, Pepper Adams and Billy Harper, pianists Hank Jones, and Roland Hanna, and bassists Richard Davis and George Mraz. In 1978 Jones surprised Lewis by suddenly leaving the band and moving to Denmark, an action he never explained. He wrote for a radio orchestra and led his own group called Eclipse. In late 1984 Jones took over the leadership of the Count Basie Orchestra but within a year bad health forced him to retire. Thad Jones recorded as a leader for Debut (1954-55), Blue Note, Period, United Artists, Roulette, Milestone, Solid State, Artists House, A&M and Metronome and many of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestras best recordings have been reissued on a five-CD Mosaic box set.