On Wednesday, July 22nd, Montreal-born jazz pianist Oliver Jones passed away at the age of 91.
Jones’ start in jazz performance could be described as that of a late bloomer, yet his brilliance at the piano was evident from a young age. In 1940, he played in public for the first time at the age of five for Montreal’s oldest Black congregation, the Union United Church. By the time he was nine, he made his debut in the nightclub scene.
During his youth, Jones’ neighbour Daisy Peterson Sweeney classically trained him in piano. Living 12 doors down from Jones in Little Burgundy, Sweeney and her brother, Oscar Peterson, helped Jones develop a musical style that merged classical fundamentals with uncompromising blues and swing.
Jones’ classical training shaped his predominant performance style during his 16-year tour as the creative director for the Kenny Hamilton Showband. Jones, with the group, toured in the Caribbean, the United States, and Puerto Rico throughout the 1960s and ‘70s.
When Jones returned to Montreal in 1980, he committed his time to jazz and studio recordings. Though the pianist was on the tail end of his forties, Montreal immediately appreciated his late, but welcome, arrival on the jazz scene. The year following Jones’ return, he made his debut performance at the Montreal International Jazz Festival (Jazz Fest). That same year, bassist Charlie Biddle and entrepreneur Georges Durst opened Biddles Jazz & Ribs, where Jones became a regular performer.
Jones’ first record—Live at Biddles Jazz & Ribs, released in 1983—immortalizes the nightclub, which ultimately closed under the name House of Jazz in 2020. In the performance, Biddle plays the bass and Bernard Primeau is on the drums, joining pianist Jones to form a trio.
The record’s first tune, “Mean To Me,” breaks into a swing beaming with enthusiasm and a noticeable touch of the Calypso influence that Jones inherited during his time abroad. Following the opening number, Jones transitions into the ballad, “It Might As Well Be Spring,” demonstrating his ability to play brilliantly melodic standards that are equally as breathable as they are monumental. The dichotomy in character between the two performances is a theme present throughout the duration of the set.
The record also features Oscar Peterson’s prominent civil rights tune “Hymn To Freedom,” a piece Jones and Peterson iconically performed in tandem at 2004 Jazz Fest. Peterson remained Jones’ greatest inspiration throughout his career. Notably, Peterson is credited as a pivotal source of encouragement for Jones’ commitment to jazz performance; Peterson indebted much of his style to his classical background, and, following in his mentor’s footsteps, Jones channeled his technical precision and intentionality into an intuitive and volatile medium of music.
Jones’ 1984 record, The Many Moods of Oliver Jones, helped to actualize Peterson’s ambitions for solo jazz piano to receive equal reverence as solo classical piano. The record paints a comprehensive picture of Jones’ technique and his ability to pull listeners into a musical world embellished with elegant phrases and strides.
Though the mentioned recordings do not provide a comprehensive measure of Jones’ musical talent or ability, they emphasize the reality of who he was as a musician: someone who could play happiness in one measure, despair in the next, and do so in a way that was as honest as it was direct.
Jones’ playing was imbued with curiosity and excitement, and such emotions are transmitted seamlessly through the recordings he published and the countless performances he gave during his seven-decade-long career. His memory will be a cherished token in the history of Montreal, the musical identity of Canada, and the legacy of international jazz music.