Albennie Jones
{{short description|American singer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Albennie Jones
| birth_name =
| image = Albinia Jones.jpg
| caption =
| alias = Albinia Jones
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|11|29}}
| birth_place = Errata, Mississippi, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1989|6|24|1914|11|29}}
| death_place = The Bronx, New York City, US
| origin =
| occupation = Singer
| years_active = 1930s – early 1950s
| website =
}}
Albennie Jones (November 29, 1914 – June 24, 1989), also credited as Albinia Jones,[https://books.google.com/books?id=wKloyHafnsYC&dq=The+Complete+Recorded+Works+Of+Albinia+Jones&pg=PA551 Robert Ford, A Blues Bibliography, Routledge, 2007, p.551] was an American blues and jazz singer who recorded in the mid and late 1940s.
Biography
She was born in Errata, Mississippi.[http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/jones-county-blues Mississippi Blues Trail: Jones County Blues]. Retrieved March 10, 2013 She grew up in Gulfport where she sang in the Mount Holy Baptist Church, before moving to New York City in 1932. Her first professional engagement as a singer was at Elk's Rendezvous Club, where she was so successful that she was retained for nine months. She also sang in other clubs, including the Club Harlem, the Village Vanguard and Murrains Café.[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/albinia-jones-mn0000933393 Biography by Rovi at Allmusic]. Retrieved March 10, 2013
She first recorded, as Albinia Jones, for National Records in late 1944, with a band that included electric guitarist Leonard Ware and pianist Cliff Jackson.[http://www.jazzdisco.org/savoy-records/discography-1931-1944/ Savoy Records Discography: 1931–1944]. Retrieved March 10, 2013 The following year, her accompanists also included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Don Byas and pianist Sammy Price.[http://www.jazzdisco.org/savoy-records/discography-1945/ Savoy Records Discography: 1945]. Retrieved March 10, 2013 She was promoted at the time as the "New Queen of the Blues",[http://www.jonescounty.com/index.php/news_media/article/95 Jones County, Mississippi: "Singin' The Blues"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225203212/http://www.jonescounty.com/index.php/news_media/article/95 |date=December 25, 2015 }}. Retrieved March 10, 2013 and toured widely with Blanche Calloway, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Tiny Bradshaw and the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. As Albennie Jones, she recorded again with Price for Decca Records in 1947 and 1949. One of her last recordings with Price in February 1949 was a rocking R&B number, "Hole in the Wall", co-written by record producer Milt Gabler and featuring the line "we're going to rock and roll at the Hole in the Wall tonight", a notably early use of the phrase.[https://books.google.com/books?id=7q7IhehL_HMC&dq=decca+48100&pg=PA114 Sammy Price, What Do They Want?: A Jazz Autobiography, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1 Nov 1995, p.114][http://www.78discography.com/Dec48000.htm 78discography.com; Decca 48000 series Numerical Listing]. Retrieved March 10, 2013{{YouTube|dPSzF_BOq9E| Albennie Jones with Sam Price, Hole in the Wall}}
Following an onstage fall in the early 1950s, she had to use a crutch at her club performances, and shortly afterwards retired from the music business. She later suffered from leukaemia. She died in The Bronx, New York City, in 1989, at the age of 74.Social Security Death Index 075-18-6433
References
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Category:People from Jones County, Mississippi
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:American rhythm and blues singers
Category:20th-century American singers