{{short description|American jazz pianist and bandleader (1892–1945)}} {{hatnote|Not to be confused with the English baroque composer and violinist Richard Jones}} thumb|
'''Richard M. Jones''', born '''Richard Marigny Jones''' (sometimes written '''Richard Mariney Jones'''), (June 13, 1892 – December 8, 1945)<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/richard-m-jones-mn0000347789/biography|title=Richard M. Jones Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> was an American jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and record producer. Numerous songs bear his name as author, including "Trouble in Mind".<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard M. Jones (1889-1945)|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/richard-m-jones-1889-1945/ |website=Red Hot Jazz Archive |date=30 August 2020 |access-date=30 August 2020 }}</ref>
He was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, United States.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1319}}</ref> Jones grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jones suffered from a stiff leg and walked with a limp; fellow musicians gave him the nickname "Richard My Knee Jones" as a pun on his middle name. In his youth he played alto horn in brass bands.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> His main instrument, however, became the piano.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> By 1908, he was playing in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans. A few years later, he often led a small band which sometimes included Joe Oliver. Jones also worked in the bands of John Robichaux, Armand J. Piron, and Papa Celestin.
In 1918, Jones moved to Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He worked as Chicago manager for publisher and pianist Clarence Williams. Jones began recording in 1923, making gramophone records as a piano soloist, accompanist to vocalists, and with his bands The Jazz Wizards and The Chicago Cosmopolitans. He recorded for Gennett, OKeh, Victor, and Paramount Records in the 1920s. He also worked for OKeh Records as Chicago supervisor of the company's "Race" (African-American) Records for most of the decade.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> During this period he was the producer of the influential Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings led by cornetist (later trumpeter) Louis Armstrong.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In the 1930s, Jones performed a similar management role for Decca.
Richard M. Jones worked for Mercury Records until his death in December 1945 in Chicago, at the age of 53.<ref name="AMG"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Other sources== *{{Cite Grove |last1=Doran |first1=James M. |last2=Kernfeld |first2=Barry |title=Richard M. Jones}} * Roy Middleton, Hennie van Veelo, and Christopher Hillman. ''Richard M. Jones: Forgotten Man of Jazz''. London: Cygnet Productions, 1997.
==External links== * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106200 Richard M. Jones recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard M.}} Category:1892 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans Category:African-American pianists Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American male jazz composers Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:Gennett Records artists Category:Paramount Records artists Category:Record producers from Louisiana Category:20th-century American conductors (music) Category:20th-century American pianists Category:20th-century American jazz composers Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:20th-century American male composers Category:20th-century American male pianists