(Photo: Jimmy Katz)
1918-2010. Quite possibly the most universally-beloved musician in jazz.
UPDATE: Ethan is planning a major blog post on Hank Jones, which promises to be definitive. Meanwhile, everyone is posting their favorite YouTube clips of the late master. Here is mine -- Hank covering his brother Thad's "Lady Luck" -- a brilliant re-imagining of "Taking A Chance On Love," written for their kid brother's 1962 Riverside date Elvin! This version is from 1997 and features Clarence Penn on drums. This is one of those perilous "grown-up tempos" that brutally lays bare the differences between a true master and the rest of us. Hank of course makes it sound effortless, as he always did.
Nate Chinen (The Gig)
Peter Hum (jazzblog.ca). See also Peter's list of Discs To Remember Hank Jones By. (I am naturally most partial to Hank's gorgeous disc of Thad tunes, Upon Reflection, which Peter mentions, as well as the classic 1958 Jones Bros. joint Keeping Up With The Joneses.)
Ethan Iverson's 88th birthday post for Hank (from 2006)
Fred Kaplan (Stereophile)
Howard Mandel (Jazz Beyond Jazz)
Michael J. West (Washington City Paper)
Doug Ramsey (Rifftides)
Matana Roberts interviews Hank Jones for All About Jazz in 2003 (and uh, you guys should probably put Matana's name in the byline... )
Peter Keepnews (New York Times)
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