Thad Jones (Thaddeus Joseph Jones)

Thad Jones - b. Mar. 28, 1923, Pontiac, MI, d. Aug. 20, 1986, Copenhagen, Denmark

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 Mitchell's 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 Basie's 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 free-lancer 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 he 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, Quentin Jackson and Benny Powell; 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 Orchestra's best recordings have been reissued on a five-CD Mosaic box set.
-Scott Yanow

Mel Lewis (Melvin Sokoloff)

Mel Lewis - b. May 10, 1929, Buffalo, NY, d. Feb. 2, 1990, New York, NY

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Lewis gained a great deal of recognition in the jazz world for his work with Stan Kenton (1954-57), making the large ensemble swing hard. In 1957 he settled in Los Angeles, became a studio drummer and worked with the big bands of Terry Gibbs and Gerald Wilson. Lewis went to New York to play with Gerry Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band in 1960 and he toured Europe with Dizzy Gillespie (1961) and the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman (1962). In 1965 Lewis formed an orchestra in New York with Thad Jones that grew to be one of the top big bands in jazz.

When Jones surprised everyone by suddenly fleeing to Europe in 1979, Lewis became the orchestra's sole leader, playing regularly each Monday night at the Village Vanguard with the band up until his death. Mel Lewis recorded as a leader in the 1950s for San Francisco Jazz Records, Mode (reissued on V.S.O.P.) and Andex and, after Thad Jones left their orchestra, Mel Lewis recorded with this big band for Atlantic, Telarc and Music Masters.
-Scott Yanow

Discography Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra

Bob Brookmeyer The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra / May 4, 1966 - May 25, 1970 / Mosaic
-The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band was one of the finest jazz orchestras of the late '60s but it is Solid State LPs had been long out-of-print for decades before Mosaic wisely reissued all of the music (plus seven previously unissued performances) on this deluxe but limited-edition, five-CD set. With Jones' colorful and distinctive arrangements, such soloists as trumpeters Danny Stiles, Marvin Stamm and Richard Williams; trombonists Bob Brookmeyer and Jimmy Knepper; the reeds of Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Joe Farrell, Billy Harper, Eddie Daniels and Pepper Adams; and pianists Hank Jones and Roland Hanna; plus a rhythm section driven by bassist Richard Davis and drummer Mel Lewis, this was a classic band. Highlights among the 42 performances include "Mean What You Say,""Don't Git Sassy, "Tiptoe, "Fingers, "Central Park North" and the original version of "A Child Is Born," but nearly every selection is memorable.
-Scott Yanow

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Consummation / Jan. 20, 1970 - May 25, 1970 / BlueNote
-Of the many albums recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, this was the greatest. Reissued on CD as part of a large Mosaic box set, this set intro- duced Jones' best-known composition, "A Child Is Born," also has a colorful rendition of his sly "Tiptoe," and finds the big band ripping the roof off during the lengthy and very exciting "Fingers." The all-star cast (which includes fluegelhornist Jones, drummer Lewis, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and Benny Powell, tenor great Billy Harper, the reeds of Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion and Eddie Daniels, keyboardist Roland Hanna, and bassist Richard Davis, among others) is well served by Thad Jones' inventive and swinging arrangements. A classic.
-Scott Yanow

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Jim McNeely Naturally / Mar. 20, 1979 - Mar. 21, 1979 / Telarc
-This was the first recording by the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, made just for a short time after co-leader Thad Jones surprised everyone by suddenly quitting and moving to Europe. Although Jones was gone, the band was still performing  his arrangements, and all six of the charts on the set were Thad's; plus, he was the composer of five of the tunes.  With soloists as pianist Jim McNeely, altoist Dick Oatts, trumpeter John Marshall and the tenors of Bob Rockwell and Richard Perry (along with plenty of tight ensembles), it was clear that the orchestra would live on. Worth searching for.
-Scott Yanow

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