Jones, Etta

Jones, Etta, American jazz and blues singer; b. Aiken, S.C., Nov. 25, 1928. She has developed a highly inviting approach that has given her popular appeal since she first appeared with the Buddy Johnson band at the age of 16. She gained further experience in front of the groups of J. C. Heard and Earl Hines in the 1950s, before launching on her solo career. With her 1960 hit recording, Don’t Go to Strangers, she began a productive association with Prestige Records that lasted five years and produced seven albums. For much of the 1970s she was relatively inactive until she entered her next great phase of recording activity. From 1976, she made albums for Muse and other labels, often in the company of Houston Person. Any one of her classic dates reveals her singular way with a song. Much like her inspirations, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, she clearly enunciates each syllable of a word, milking it for all its potential, and often ends a phrase with a melodic upturn. Although not a technically flashy vocalist, she inflects each performance with an emotional attachment that is always quite direct and inviting.

Discography

Don’t Go to Strangers (1960); Something Nice (1961); So Warm (1961); From the Heart (1962); Lonely and Blue (1962); Love Shout (1963); Etta Jones Sings (1965); Ms. Jones to You (1976); My Mother’s Eyes (1977); I’ll Be Seeing You (1987); Fine and Mellow (1987); Sugar (1989); Reverse the Charges (1991); At Last (1993); My Gentleman Friend (1994); Melody Lingers On (1997); My Buddy: Songs of Buddy Johnson (1998); Doin’ What She Does Best (1998); All the Way (1999); Easy Living (2000).

—Chris Hovan