1. Dill Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on 19 August 1923.
11 Facts About Dill Jones
1. 2.
Dill Jones was brought up in Talgarth and Llandovery, with extended family holidays in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast where his father, Islwyn Jones, had been born and brought up.
3.
Dill Jones gave Jones piano lessons during his holidays in New Quay.
4.
Dill Jones consolidated his classical training, with lessons from his brother-in-law, the classical pianist, Leonard Cassini.
5.
Dill Jones formed the Dill Jones Quartet in 1959, and emigrated to the United States in 1961.
6.
Dill Jones was in demand, and earned his reputation playing with the likes of Gene Krupa, Jimmy McPartland and Yank Lawson.
7.
Between 1969 and 1973, Dill Jones was a member of the JPJ Quartet with Budd Johnson, Oliver Jackson and Bill Pemberton.
8.
Dill Jones was a member of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.
9.
Dill Jones never forgot his homeland, returning to Wales and to New Quay almost every year.
10.
In 1981, Dill Jones sang at the Australian Jazz Festival and complained that his throat was hurting him.
11.
Dill Jones died from throat cancer in Calvary Hospital in the Bronx on 22 June 1984 at the age of 60.