Leroy Jones

Leroy Jones absorbed the New Orleans jazz lineage from an early age and has consistently celebrated that background while broadening his own artistic range. He first picked up the trumpet upon entering his elementary school’s band program. At age thirteen he became a member of guitarist Danny Barker’s Fairview Baptist Brass Band and also received private instruction from Barker. Jones then devoted four years to the city’s acclaimed St. Augustine High School Band. Upon graduation he established the Hurricane Brass Band; together with the Fairview ensemble, it supplied personnel to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Jones subsequently toured Canada alongside Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, performed with Della Reese, and embarked on a series of international engagements that included a three-year residency in Southeast Asia. Harry Connick, Jr. later enlisted him for his big band, placing Jones in the role of opening act on Connick’s 1994 tour. Jones issued his first recording as a leader, the 1995 album Mo’ Cream From the Crop, which earned widespread critical praise.