Everything about Isham Jones totally explained
Isham Jones (
31 January,
1894 –
19 October,
1956) was a
United States bandleader, violinist, bassist and
songwriter.
Jones was born in
Coalton, Ohio, grew up in
Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band. In
1915 he moved to
Chicago, Illinois, which remained his base through
1924. After that he toured
England before reestablishing himself in
New York City.
The Isham Jones band made a series of popular
gramophone records for
Brunswick throughout the
1920s. Isham Jones led one of the most popular dance bands in the
1920s and
1930s.
Noted musicians who played in Jones' band included
Louis Panico,
Benny Goodman (although he didn't make any records during the short time he was with them),
Woody Herman and
Roy Bargy.
There was a gap from October 1927 to June 1929 where Jones didn't record (probably due to disbanding and reorganization).
From 1929 to 1932, his Brunswick recordings became even more sophisticated with often very interesting arrangements (although it's not known who arranged these records - probably by Gordon Jenkins; Jones wasn't known to have been an arranger, but he certainly had an ear for offbeat arrangements). During this period, Jones started featuring violinist Eddie Stone as one of his regular vocalists. Stone had an unusual, almost humorous tone to his voice. It seems that Jones was indifferent to vocalists until he started using Frank Sylvano and Eddie Stone starting in 1929 and in 1932, Joe Martin. About this time, a young
Bing Crosby recorded "Sweet Georgia Brown" with Isham's group. Crosby at this point in his career was still singing in a jazz idiom, not yet in his better known "
crooner" style.
In 1932, Jones signed with
Victor and these records are generally considered among the very best arranged and performed commercial dance band records of the
Depression era. Victor's recording technique was especially suited to Jones' band. His Victors had an almost symphonic sound. He stayed with
Victor until July 1934, when he signed with
Decca. (Jones' recordings during this period rivaled
Paul Whiteman and other dance orchestras as examples of the very best dance music of the era.)
Jones' compositions (he wrote the music,
Charles Newman and
Gus Kahn were among his lyricists ) included:
After he left Decca, he signed with
ARC and recorded a handful of records under the
Melotone,
Perfect and
Banner labels from 1937 to 1938, when he retired and his orchestra was taken over by band member
Woody Herman.
Isham Jones died in
Hollywood, Florida in 1956. His grand-nephew is the noted jazz drummer
Rusty Jones.
Further Information
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