Jones, Slick (actually, Wilmore)
Jones, Slick (actually, Wilmore)
Jones, Slick (actually, Wilmore ), jazz drummer; b. Roanoke, Va., April 13, 1907; d. N.Y., Nov. 2, 1969. His brother Gil led own band in Va. for many years; their father was also a musician. Jones worked with John Lockslayer’s Band in 1925. He moved to N.Y. and began studying at the Damrosch Cons. He played with Fletcher Henderson from spring 1935 until February 1936, then joined Fats Waller (replacing Arnold “Scrippy” Boling); he worked on and off with Waller until 1942. Jones worked with various other leaders before a long spell with Gene Sedric’s Band from late 1946. He was with Wilbur de Paris in 1954, and during the following year he worked in Boston with Wilbur de Paris, Doc Cheatham, and others. He played regularly in N.Y. after 1959, working a spell with Scoville Brown, then several years with the Eddie Durham Band. Jones was seriously ill in 1964, but temporarily recovered and resumed playing for a while.
—John Chilton, Who‘s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter