Celebration of Life & Memorial Held For Hank Jones At Abyssinian Baptist Church 6/26

A Celebration of Life & Memorial for the legendary Hank Jones will be held Saturday June 26th 2010 at Abyssinian Baptist Church, located at West 138 street (between Lenox Ave.and Adam Clayton Blvd.) between 2:00 - 5:00 PM

Speakers and performers include: (Schedules subject to change)

To include: Jimmy Heath (Musical Director), Frank Wess, Mulgrew Miller, Frank Foster & the Loud Minority Big Band, Joe Wilder, Willie Jones III, George Mraz, Dr. Billy Taylor, Phil Schaap, Gil Noble, George Wein, Barry Harris, Davell Crawford, Lewis Nash, Jimmy Cobb, Eddie Gomez, Kenny Barron, Richard Sussman, Eric Reed and many more.

Donations:
Bruce Jones, Thedia Jones Smith and the Jones Family ask that donations be made to the Jazz Foundation of America to help cover the costs of this memorial. Please make your donation online and specify in memory of Hank Jones. Thank you so much.
For over 21 years the Jazz Foundation of America has been the first and only national organization dedicated to saving the homes and lives of elder jazz and blues musicians in crisis. Assisting over 1,600 emergency cases a year including hundreds of New Orleans musicians and their children still coping with the effects of Katrina. Donations made to the Jazz Foundation will cover the cost of this memorial as well as  emergency care of our great jazz and blues musicians in need.
www.jazzfoundation.org <http://www.jazzfoundation.org>

The legendary Hank Jones
To hear Hank Jones play is to understand why he is one of the rare individuals that the National Endowment for the Arts has inducted as a "Jazz Master". A member of the famous Jazz family which included his brothers, the late drummer Elvin Jones and the late trumpeter Thad Jones, his playing style made him one of the most sought after and recorded Jazz pianists in Jazz history.

Born in Mississippi, Hank Jones grew up in Michigan, playing in territory bands as a teenager. In 1944, he moved to New York to play with Hot Lips Page and had stints with Coleman Hawkins, Billy Eckstine and Howard McGhee as well. Influenced by Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum, Jones' style also embraced bebop, and his broad range allowed him to fit into many different settings. He toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic starting in 1947, worked as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist from 1948-53, and recorded with Charlie Parker. In the ‘50s, he performed with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Milt Jackson, and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. He was staff pianist at CBS studios from 1959-1976 and accompanied Marilyn Monroe when she sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy in 1962. In the late '70s, he served as pianist and conductor for the Broadway
musical Ain't Misbehavin' and played with the Great Jazz Trio, which included, at various times, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Buster Williams and Ben Riley. Of course, these words can never express all the influences Hank had on so many of us as well as on other artists, and they cannot measure the life of a man but only describe his musical contributions. But for those of us who knew Hank, we had the great honor of knowing a good, kind and fascinating human being.

"In his eloquent poem of the same name, Robert Frost speaks of ‘the road less traveled' - that journey where two paths diverge, where the author takes a path not clearly marked, seeking out adventure and the unknown. Perhaps no verse ever encapsulates more the life of a jazz musician. Often times, cabs and coach, rather than limos and first class, is the road of one following the call of an inner voice, rather than the roar of an arena... Hank's was a life dedicated to ‘The Road.'" - Bill Threlkeld

Special Acknowledgements:
The Jazz Foundation of America especially Wendy Oxenhorn, Kimberly Middleton, Marianne Pillsbury, Joseph Petrucelli, and Gina Robertson for all of the assistance; Reverend Calvin Butts III, Naomi Graham and the Abyssinian Baptist Church for their generosity; Laurel Gross for her devotion and caring for Hank this past year, Kiyoko Murata for her caring and management of Hank in Japan, Kevin Harewood for assisting the family in the production of the memorial, All the physicians and medical staff for their excellent care, and the following people for all that they have done for both Hank Jones and his family: Miles Morimoto, Vincent Davis, Esther Sansaurus, Geoffrey Menin, and Manny Ramirez.