| Etta Jones | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Date: | November 25, 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Aiken, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Years Active: | 1943–2001 |
| Label: | Prestige, Muse, HighNote |
| Associated Acts: | Houston Person, Buddy Johnson, Leonard Feather |
Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer.[1] Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton, and Houston Person.[2]
Jones was born in Aiken, South Carolina,[1] and raised in Harlem, New York. Still in her teens, she joined Buddy Johnson's band for a tour although she was not featured on record. Her first recordings—"Salty Papa Blues", "Evil Gal Blues", "Blow Top Blues", and "Long, Long Journey"—were produced by Leonard Feather in 1944, placing her in the company of clarinetist Barney Bigard and tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld.[1] In 1947, she recorded and released an early cover version of Leon René's "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" (previously released by the Basin Street Boys on Rene's Exclusive label) while at RCA Victor Records.[3] She performed with the Earl Hines sextet from 1949 to 1952.[4]
Following her recordings for Prestige, on which Jones was featured with high-profile arrangers such as Oliver Nelson and jazz stars such as Frank Wess, Roy Haynes, and Gene Ammons, she had a musical partnership of more than 30 years with tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who received equal billing with her.[5] He also produced her albums and served as her manager after the pair met in one of Johnny "Hammond" Smith's bands.
Although Etta Jones is likely to be remembered above all for her recordings on Prestige, her close professional relationship with Person (frequently, but mistakenly, identified as Jones's husband) helped ensure that the last two decades of her life would be marked by uncommon productivity. Starting in 1976, they began recording for Muse, which later changed its name to HighNote. Mr. Person became her manager, as well as her record producer and accompanist, in a partnership that lasted until her death in 2001.[6]
Only one of her recordings—her debut album for Prestige Records (Don't Go to Strangers, 1960)—enjoyed commercial success with sales of more than 1 million copies. However, her remaining seven albums for Prestige, and beginning in 1976, her recordings for Muse Records, and for HighNote Records secured her a devoted following. She had three Grammy nominations: for the Don't Go to Strangers album in 1960, the Save Your Love for Me album in 1981, and My Buddy[7] (dedicated to her first employer, Buddy Johnson) in 1998. In 2008, the album Don't Go to Strangers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[8] In 1996, she recorded the jazz vocalist tribute album, The Melody Lingers On, for the HighNote label.[9] Her last recording, a tribute to Billie Holiday, was released on the day of Jones's death.[10]
She died in Mount Vernon, New York, at the age of 72, from cancer.[2] [11]
With Houston Person