Jonah Jones began his musical career at an early age, playing French horn in
local orchestras, before quickly switching to trumpet. By the age of 12, he was
playing alongside young trombonist Dicky Wells in his school orchestra. Later,
not yet 20, he embarked, like many musicians of the time, on the riverboats up
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He then joined the great band of conductor and
pianist Horace Henderson, alongside the young trumpeter Roy Eldridge. With his
reputation already well established, he was recruited by bandleader and
saxophonist Jimmie Lunceford, then by vi...