Read our 2015 profile of Connie Jones, never before online: Connie Jones- True to his City (1934-2019)
Conrad R. “Connie” Jones III, died in his sleep on February 13th, a month shy of his 85th birthday. He was well known within New Orleans traditional jazz circles, and among serious fans nationwide for his memorable performances at traditional jazz events notably the San Diego Jazz Festival. He was equally effective as a singer and trumpet player raising any group he played with to the next level.
Before leading his own groups he played with life long friend Pete Fountain’s Basin Street Six and with Jack Teagarden’s final band. In his early career, he also played in the bands of Billy Maxted and New Orleans Rhythm Kings veteran Santo Pecora. During a 60 year career around New Orleans, he played with several generations of New Orleans traditional jazz royalty. He made long runs with his bands at The Blue Angel Nightclub on Bourbon Street and aboard the Delta Queen showboat.
His Crescent City Jazz Band, and then The Connie Jones All-Stars opened the Frech Quarter Festival for many years. He also played The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Satchmo Summerfest, participated in the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp and could be found at many community events around the city.
Before announcing his retirement in 2016 he remained active making records with other New Orleans notables including Tom McDermott and Tim Laughlin and could be spotted at live events with Banu Gibson, David Boeddinghaus and many others.
Lew Shaw wrote a complete Profile of Connie Jones in the April 2015 issue of The American Rag, you can read it here: Connie Jones-True to his City
Joe Bebco is the Associate Editor of The Syncopated Times and Webmaster of SyncopatedTimes.com
