Felix and the Cats

JONES, JONAH: [Robert Elliott] (b Louisville, KY, 31 Dec 1909). Trumpeter.

Felix and Jonah Jones

He played alto horn in a local band before changing to trumpet. His first professional job was on a Mississippi riverboat, and then in 1928 he joined Horace Henderson. After performing in the Midwest with many groups, including that of Jimmie Lunceford (1931), he played with Stuff Smith (1932-4). He worked briefly with Lil' Armstrong's big band and McKinney's Cotton Pickers, then rejoined Smith in 1936 for a four-year residency at the Onyx club, for which the group gained much renown. After short periods with Benny Carter (1940) and Fletcher Henderson (1941) Jones became a long-standing member of Cab Calloway's orchestra and Cab Jivers (1941-52), remaining with Calloway after the band was reduced to a small group. He worked with Earl Hines (1952-3) and toured Europe as a soloist (1954), then formed a quartet that played at the Embers in New York (1955). This group performed tunes from shows, traditional jazz, and standards (which Jones played muted but in a swinging style) and became extremely successful, making several hit recordings. It maintained its popularity throughout the 1960s, and toured Europe, the Far East, and Australia; from 1969 to 1977 the quartet's drummer was Cozy Cole. Jones performed at jazz festivals in Europe in 1978, and continued to work into the 1980s.
Jones was one of the great swing trumpeters. He was able to build a solo gradually until it reached a peak of excitement, often by cleverly distorting his bright, shouting tone with growls or mutes."

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. St. Martin's Press. 1995. Page 632.