Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Rusty Jones was born Isham Russell Jones II on April 13, 1942 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and began playing drums at the age of thirteen and continued on throughout his college years choosing traditional and modern jazz as his preferred mode of music.

He went “on the road” after graduating college in 1965 from the University of Iowa with a degree in history and political science, to “get it out of his system”, but he never stopped his pursuit of a musical vocation. He moved to the Chicago area in 1967.

Jones appeared with Chicago musician Judy Roberts from 1968 to 1972, soon after becoming a member of George Shearing, then accompanied pianist Marian McPartland, then free-lanced throughout Chicago with several bands, touring the United States and Europe. He has worked with Patricia Barber, Adam Makowitz, Larry Novak, Ike Cole, Clifford Jordan, Danny Long, Johnny Gabor, Frank D’Rone, Art Hodes, Buddy DeFranco, Mark Murphy, Eddie Higgins, Red Holloway, Anita O’Day Stephane Grappelli, Ira Sullivan and J. R. Monterose, and the list goes on.

Between 1958 and 2004 this consummate sideman has been a part of nearly four-dozen recording sessions, all while performing and touring the U.S. and the world. Drummer Rusty Jones currently, appears quite regularly around the Chicago area with the Johnny Gabor Trio featuring vocalist Connie Marshall.


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