Hank Jones, Piano, 1918, Vicksburg, MS
Hank grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, where he began to take piano lessons when very young. Earl Hines, Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson were Hank's major influences. While still in his early teens, Hank was playing in what were known as territorial bands in Michigan, and local bands in the Pontiac area. It was Lucky Thompson who invited Hank to come to New York for a job at the Onyx Club with Hot Lips Page. While in New York he also played with John Kirby, Howard McGee, Coleman Hawkins, and Billy Eckstine. In 1947 he went on tour, with Jazz At The Philharmonic and began a long association with Ella Fitzgerald. After working as a freelance musician for a number of years, which included engagements with the Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman bands, Jones became a member of the staff at CBS where he remained for 17 years. With his rare combination of talents as a strong soloist, sensitive accompanist, and adept sight-reader, Jones has always been in demand for recording sessions of all kinds, and may be heard on thousands of albums. During the latter part of the 1970s Hank was pianist and conductor for the Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehaven", (based on the music of FatsWaller). Today, Hank continues to perform and record prolifically as a soloist and with many small groups. Hank's two younger brothers were Thad Jones and Elvin Jones.
Kenny Burrell, Guitar, 1931, Detroit, MI
Kenny, like numerous musicians who came from musical families, began his music lessons (on guitar) while very young. In the early '50s, while studying music at Wayne State University, he played for a month with Dizzy Gillespie's sextet with which he also made his first recordings. After graduating in 1955, he spent a while with Oscar Peterson and then made a move to New York. Before long he was playing and recording with many famous players, and established his reputation as an outstanding guitarist. As well as recording about 30 to 40 albums with groups of his own, he has played on about 200 albums with such leaders as John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Jimmy Smith, Billy Holiday, Hubert Laws, Yusef Lateef, and many others. While doing some work with Mercer Ellington, Kenny recorded on the banjo. In 1971 Burrell decided to make his home in Los Angeles where he began teaching and leading seminars at many of the colleges in the area. His playing is in the strong bop style, but he actually favors simple, often singable melodic lines. His tone is particularly mellow.
