| Claude Jones | |
| Birth Date: | 11 February 1901 |
| Birth Place: | Boley, Oklahoma, United States |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Instrument: | Trombone |
| Genre: | Swing jazz |
| Occupation: | Musician, sailor |
| Years Active: | 1922–62 |
| Past Member Of: | McKinney's Cotton Pickers |
Claude Jones (February 11, 1901 – January 17, 1962)[1] was an American jazz trombonist.
Born in Boley, Oklahoma, United States,[1] Jones began playing trombone at the age of 13, and studied at Wilberforce College before dropping out in 1922 to join the Synco Jazz Band.[1] This group eventually evolved into McKinney's Cotton Pickers, where he would play intermittently until 1929.[1]
From there, Jones played in a variety of noted swing jazz ensembles, including those of Fletcher Henderson (1929–31, 1933–34, 1941–42, 1950), Don Redman (1931–33, 1943), Alex Hill, Chick Webb, and Cab Calloway (1934–40, 1943).[1] He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton in 1939 and Louis Armstrong/Sidney Bechet in 1940.[1] In the 1940s, he also played with Coleman Hawkins, Zutty Singleton, Joe Sullivan, Benny Carter, and Duke Ellington (1944–48, 1951).[1]
After completing his second stint with Ellington, Jones became a mess steward on the ship SS United States, and he died at sea in 1962.[1]