Etta Jones

An understated, dynamic singer within jazz and popular standards, Etta Jones was an excellent singer always worth hearing. She grew up in New York, and at 16, she toured with Buddy Johnson. Jones debuted on record with Barney Bigard's pickup band (1944), singing mostly the hits of Dinah Washington. She recorded other songs from 1946 to 1947 and worked with Earl Hines (1949-1952). Jones' version of "Don't Go to Strangers" (1960) was a hit, and she made many albums for Prestige between 1960 and 1965. She toured Japan with Art Blakey (1970), but she was largely off record from 1966 to 1975. However, starting in 1976, Etta Jones (an appealing interpreter of standards, ballads, and blues) began recording regularly for Muse, often with the fine tenor saxophonist Houston Person. She died from complications of cancer on October 16, 2001, the day her last album, Etta Jones Sings Lady Day, was released. ~ Scott Yanow & Ron Wynn, Rovi