Luke Jones (October 18, 1910 – December 27, 1995) was a bandleader, alto and baritone sax player and clarinetist.
He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana but as an infant moved to Los Angeles in 1912. Nobody else in his family was musically inclined. He took up the saxophone in 1928 while attending Jefferson High School, Los Angeles. Luke’s inspiration was alto saxophonist Dick Stabile, who worked with Ben Bernie among others, and the Ellingtonian sideman, Johnny Hodges.
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| Buck Clayton at the Calidrome Ballroom, Shanghai. |
Luke's first band work was with the Buck Clayton Orchestra, when Clayton went to Shanghai, China during 1935 as leader of the 14 piece band he had taken over from Earl Dancer. The group stayed at Shanghai for about a year working for Teddy Weatherford. When Lucas returned to the States in 1936, he worked with Roy Milton for five years. Luke also worked as a barber from a shop on Central Avenue and while working with Noble Sissle in 1944 mainly played baritone sax.
In 1945 Luke was playing alto saxophone in a trio which also included Betty Hall (later known as Betty Hall Jones, but no relation) as pianist, and George Vann as drummer / singer. As bandleader Luke recorded at Los Angeles, California in early 1946 for Al Scherman’s Atlas label for which his trio were augmented by Chuck Barksdale on bass and Red Mack on trumpet. The band name referring to “Four or Five Joes” had no particular significance.
Luke was playing baritone saxophone with Les Hite in 1946. He recorded with his same quintet for Modern & RPM, drawn from two sessions in 1949. George Vann is the singer for the first Bihari Brothers session, but Red Mack is the vocalist for the blues “Mama, Oh Mamma” from the second session.
Luke frequently worked interstate, including Utah, with his bookings often being made through Jimmy Robinson, and continued to work in music for a living until about 1973, often playing baritone sax, but even in late 1985 he was still occasionally taking part in jam sessions at the Philadelphia Clef Club. He died on 27 December, 1995.
(The only information I could find was gleaned from liner notes by Professor Hi-Jinx)