* En anglais uniquement
First things first in the attempt to sort out which
Willie Jones is which: other researchers with similar goals have contributed generously, although there are never enough facts when up against a
Jones biographical blockade. Biographers of the great Chicago pianist of the same name, for example, have taken time to point out other people named
Willie Jones who he is not, such as this guitarist. Drummers with this name have been kind enough to demand useful credits along the order of
Willie Jones III, probably because nobody would want to haul a drum set around just to be mistaken for another
Willie Jones. On guitar, the rootsy fellow who played on some excellent Blue Note sessions from the '60s should also not be mistaken for one or maybe two (since nobody seems to know) different country blues guys with this name.
The guitarist named
Willie Jones who recorded with artists such as
Fred Jackson and
Ike Quebec was snubbed by
Leonard Feather in terms of inclusion in The Encyclopedia of Jazz published about a decade after the Blue Note sessions. Perhaps he wasn't considered a jazz guitarist, as almost everything he played could conceivably have been played by a bluesman. This distinction, along with a credit on a Blue Note record made in the '60s, would probably be enough to make any jazz guitarist deliriously happy.
Jones' invite into that famous jazz label's inner sanctum came via
Jackson, a tenor saxophonist who only released one album on the label. A second one, also featuring
Jones on guitar, stayed in the can until the days of digital reissues. The players met when
Jackson joined the supporting band of vocalist
Lloyd Price, playing a solid R&B repertoire.
Jones had already put in a few years of touring with
Price, while
Jackson would go on to record with
B.B. King. This is all more than just the right feel for authentic Blue Note soul-jazz, so
Jackson made the right decision when he decided to pilfer members of the
Price rhythm section to play the date.
Jones' associates from the
Price outfit were organist
Earl Van Dyke and drummer Wilbert Hogan. ~ Eugene Chadbourne