Biography

Claude Jones (February 11, 1901 – January 17, 1962) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Boley, Oklahoma, Jones began on trombone at age 13, and studied at Wilberforce College before dropping out in 1922 to join the Synco Jazz Band. This group eventually evolved into McKinney's Cotton Pickers, where he would play intermittently until 1929. From there, Jones played in a variety of noted swing jazz ensembles, including those of Fletcher Henderson (1929–31, 1933–34, 1941–42, 1950), Don Redman (1931–33, 1943), Alex Hill, Chick Webb, and Cab Calloway (1934–40, 1943). He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton in 1939 and Louis Armstrong/Sidney Bechet in 1940. In the 1940s, he also played with Coleman Hawkins, Zutty Singleton, Joe Sullivan, Benny Carter, and Duke Ellington (1944–48, 1951). After completing his second stint with Ellington, he became a mess steward on the ship S.S. United States, and died at sea in 1962.