Richard M. Jones
b.Donaldsville, Louisiana, 13 June 1889; d. 8 Dec 1945

Richard Myknee Jones worked around New Orleans in clubs and cabarets in his teens and in 1919 joined Clarence Williams' publishing company. By 1925 he was A&R man for Okeh (producing the "race" records which were popular with both black and white audiences in the 1920s), from whom he later moved to Decca. A longtime friend of Joe Oliver, for whom he engineered recording contracts with OKeh, Columbia and other companies, Jones was also a fine pianist who recorded prolifically himself from 1923.
From 1925 he made records with his Jazz Wizards, which included such famous names as Albert Nicholas (clarinet), Shirley Clay (cornet), Darnell Howard (clarinet), and Preston Jackson, (trombone). He also composed famous tunes such as "Trouble in Mind" and "Riverside Blues". From the 1940s he was most active as an arranger and talent scout for Mercury
[Digby Fairweather in The Rough Guide to Jazz 2nd ed. 2000]

RtS