The New York Times reports that jazz pianist Hank Jones died yesterday in the Bronx. He was 91.
Jones grew up outside Detroit with his two younger brothers, fellow future jazz greats Thad and Elvin. As the Times reports, in 1944, Jones moved to New York to play with singer/trumpeter Hot Lips Page. In the decades that followed, Jones worked with many great jazz figures, including Billy Eckstine, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Charlie Haden, and Charlie Parker. He served as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist for several years, and was on staff at CBS from the late 50s to the mid-70s.
Jones posed in the famous 1958 photo "A Great Day in Harlem" and accompanied Marilyn Monroe when she infamously sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
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