Helen Jones Woods

Helen Elizabeth Jones Woods (October 9 or November 14, 1923 – July 25, 2020) was a jazz and swing trombone player most renowned for her performances with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Helen Jones Woods
BornOctober 9 or November 14, 1923
Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJuly 25, 2020(2020-07-25) (aged 96)
Sarasota, Florida
Genresjazz, swing
Occupation(s)Musician, nurse
Instrumentstrombone

About

Helen Elizabeth Jones was born on October 9 or November 14, 1923. She spent a brief period in an orphanage for white children in Meridian, Mississippi before being adopted by Dr. Laurence and Grace Jones. Dr. Jones was the founder of the Piney Woods Country Life School, a Black boarding school with a strong musical presence.[1]

In her 1940s heyday, young Helen Elizabeth Jones was in the top female jazz band in the United States. From an early age, Woods was fascinated by the slide motion of the trombone.[1] She started playing with the group when she was only 11 years old, when it was still the "school band" of Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi. Helen was one of six surviving members of the band interviewed in the 1986 documentary film International Sweethearts of Rhythm.[2]

After the band dissolved in 1949,[3] Jones moved to Omaha where she briefly played in the Omaha Symphony Orchestra before being fired once the orchestra realized she was not white.[1] After that she worked as a licensed practical nurse at Douglas County Hospital.[4] Jones Woods and her husband, William Alfred Woods, lived in the Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects while he attended Creighton University. Upon graduating, he became the first African-American to earn an accounting degree there.[5] Woods' fourth child is Cathy Hughes, a successful business entrepreneur from Omaha.[5]

Woods died July 25, 2020 in a hospital in Sarasota, Florida from COVID-19.[1]

Family

See also
  • Music in Omaha
  • Culture in North Omaha, Nebraska

References
  1. Leland, John (August 4, 2020). "Helen Jones Woods, Member of an All-Female Jazz Group, Dies at 96". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss (directors) (2007). International Sweethearts of Rhythm: America's Hottest All-Girl Band (DVD) (Newly restored ed.). New York, NY: Jezebel Productions. OCLC 123905581. 837101327985.
  3. Handy, D. Antoinette (1998). The International Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Ladies Jazz Band from Piney Woods Country Life School (Rev. ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. pp. 169–170. ISBN 9780810831605. OCLC 39024855.
  4. "Helen Jones Woods". The HistoryMakers. October 6, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  5. Jones, Charisse (October 1998). "Owning the airwaves: Cathy Hughes buys radio stations for African-American programming". Essence. Vol. 29 no. 6. New York, NY.
  6. "Honoring Jazz's Historic Sweethearts". DownBeat. Vol. 78 no. 4. Chicago, IL. April 2011. p. D8.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.