Jones, Willie(actually, William)

views updated

Jones, Willie(actually, William)

Jones, Willie(actually, William ), jazz drummer; b. Brooklyn, N.Y, Oct. 20, 1929; d. there, April 9, 1989. He was self-taught on the drums. He became a prominent drummer in the mid-1950s N.Y. jazz scene. He worked with Thelonious Monk (1953), Charlie Min-gus’s Jazz Workshop (1955–56), and Lester Young (1958), among many others. He was a mainstay of the Brooklyn jazz community for many years, promoting jazz in the public schools.

—Lewis Porter