Harold Jones (drummer)

Harold Jones (born February 27, 1940) is an American traditional pop and jazz drummer who is best known as the drummer for Tony Bennett and for his five years with the Count Basie Orchestra.

In a career spanning six decades, Jones has toured and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Ray Charles and Tony Bennett. He has also played with major symphony orchestras, including those in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vienna.

Career
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. In 2004, Jones joined Tony Bennett as his drummer for recordings and touring. He stayed with him until Bennett retired in 2021. 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: Jay and Joy.

Jones's brother, Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, was a blues and soul organist.

Awards and accolades
In 2013 Jones was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. In 1972 he won Best New Artist in the Down Beat magazine critics' poll. Saxophonist and band leader Paul Winter called Jones "the personification of 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 Christina Aguilera With Ernestine Anderson With Count Basie With Tony Bennett With Elvin Bishop With Raquel Bitton With Richard Boone With Bruce Broughton With Red Callender With Judy Carmichael With Benny Carter With Natalie Cole With Michael Feinstein With Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett With João Gilberto With Amy Grant With Bunky Green With John Handy With Eddie Harris Jazz Band With Gene Harris With Linda Hopkins With Quincy Jones & Sammy Nestico Orchestra With Marian McPartland With Walter Norris Trio With Oscar Peterson With Pitbull With Diane Schuur With Andy Simpkins Quintet With Michael W. Smith With Thomas Talbert With Clark Terry With John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John With Sarah Vaughan With Sarah Vaughan and Los Angeles Philharmonic With Larry Vuckovich and Jon Hendricks With Robbie Williams With Paul Winter Sextet With Paul Winter Consort With Amy Winehouse
 * My Kind of Christmas (RCA Records, 2000)
 * Live at the 1990 Concord Jazz Festival Third Set (Concord Records, 1991)
 * Basie Straight Ahead (Dot Records, 1968)
 * Duets: An American Classic (Columbia Records, 2006)
 * A Swingin' Christmas (Columbia, 2008)
 * Duets II (Columbia, 2011)
 * The Blues Rolls On (Delta Groove, 2008)
 * Sings Edith Piaf (R.B., 1999)
 * Dream a Little Dream (R.B., 2002)
 * The Singer (Storyville, 1988)
 * Miracle on 34th Street: Original Soundtrack Album (BMG, 1994)
 * Basin Street Brass (Legend, 1973)
 * Two Handed Stride (Progressive, 1982)
 * 'Live and Well in Japan! (Pablo, 1978)
 * Unforgettable... with Love (Elektra Records, 1991)
 * Take a Look (Elektra Records, 1993)
 * Holly & Ivy (Elektra, 1994)
 * Stardust (Elektra Records, 1996)
 * Snowfall on the Sahara (Elektra Records, 1999)
 * Still Unforgettable (Atco, 2008)
 * Such Sweet Sorrow (Atlantic Records, 1995)
 * Cheek to Cheek (Columbia Records, 2014)
 * Love for Sale (Columbia Records, 2021)
 * João Gilberto and the Stylists of Bossa Nova Sing Antonio Carlos Jobim (Cherry Red, 2017)
 * Home for Christmas (A&M Records, 1992)
 * Playin' for Keeps (Cadet, 1966)
 * Carnival (ABC Records, 1977)
 * The Exodus to Jazz (Vee-Jay, 1961)
 * Mighty Like a Rose (Vee-Jay, 1961)
 * A Study in Jazz (Vee-Jay, 1962)
 * Black and Blue (Concord Records, 1991)
 * World Tour 1990 (Concord Records, 1991)
 * Deep in the Night (View Video, 2009)
 * Basie and Beyond (Warner Bros. Records, 2000)
 * Plays the Benny Carter Songbook (Concord Records, 1990)
 * Silent Pool (Concord Records, 1997)
 * Lush Life (Concord Records, 1991)
 * Soul Español (Limelight, 1966)
 * El Mariel (Bad Boy Latino, 2006)
 * The Boatlift (Bad Boy Latino, 2007)
 * Pure Schuur (GRP, 1991)
 * Calamba (Discovery, 1989)
 * Christmastime (Reunion, 1998)
 * Louisiana Suite (Sea Breeze, 1977)
 * Reunion (D'Note Classics, 1995)
 * This Christmas (UME, 2012)
 * Crazy and Mixed Up (Pablo, 1982)
 * Gershwin Live! (Columbia Records, 1982)
 * Reunion (Tetrachord, 2004)
 * Swing When You're Winning (Chrysalis Records, 2001)
 * Jazz Meets the Bossa Nova (Columbia Records, 1962)
 * Spanish Angel (Living Music, 1993)
 * Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Island, 2011)