Dill Jones

Born in Wales, the stride pianist Dill Jones—whose strong abilities have since faded from wider recognition—took up piano studies in London and performed alongside Humphrey Lyttelton from 1947 to 1948. Throughout the 1950s he directed his own trio while also handling studio sessions and radio work in the city. Jones relocated to New York in 1961 and appeared frequently at Condon’s, Ryan’s, and the Metropole alongside Yank Lawson, Max Kaminsky, Roy Eldridge, Bob Wilber, Jimmy McPartland, and Gene Krupa, blending seamlessly with the Condon circle. Between 1969 and 1974 he joined Budd Johnson in the JPJ Quartet, cut a solo tribute to Bix Beiderbecke for Chiaroscuro in 1972, and performed with both the Countsmen and the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band.