WILLIE JONES III
Willie Jones III is one of the world’s most celebrated drummers in modern jazz. As a band leader, the “astute hard-bop drummer” (New York Times), has sold out series of sets at Dizzy's Club in New York City, Club 1905 in Portland, the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, Club Bebop in Buenos Aires, and Bimhuis in Amsterdam. Jones’ band has performed for crowds at full capacity at Central Park SummerStage and New York City Winter Jazz Festival.
The Los Angeles-born musician performed in the Roy Hargrove Quintet from 1998-2006. He was also one of two drummers in Hargrove’s powerhouse group RH Factor. Jones has been featured on performances and tours with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and as a drummer of choice for legendary artists including Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and Hank Jones.
One of Jones' landmark qualities is his commitment to independence and control of his own musical destiny. In 2000, Jones founded WJ3 Records “to make music that celebrates and extends the hard-bop and straight-ahead jazz
traditions Jones has embraced since his teen years” (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Through the venture, he has released 20 of his own CDs and those of his contemporaries. From January 2020 through March 2021, he self-produced and released four titles on WJ3 Records, a significant and artistic feat achieved during the shutdown due to the pandemic.
Jones’ production proficiency is in high demand. He served as Producer of the Roy Hargrove album, Love Suite in Mahogany - Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center, released by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records in 2023.
He will release his eighth album as a leader in 2025, a collection of a new composition by Jones as well as his jazz arrangements of timeless songs from the R&B and popular music canon including Earth Wind & Fire’s “Can’t Hide Love,” Debarge’s “All This Love,” and Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’.” In support of the release, the top tier drummer will helm an all-star ensemble on a worldwide tour and demonstrate his “propelling flow with deep focus, impeccable time and a keen instinct for conjuring combinations of rhythm timbre most apropos to each environment” (Downbeat).
Since 2015 he has been named consistently in DownBeat magazine's Annual Critics Polls in the Rising Star Drum and Rising Star Producer categories.
Jones is also committed to fostering the next generation of musicians and listeners through music education. Since 2009, he has served as Drum Professor at Northwestern University in Chicago,
Illinois, and has led masterclasses and workshops for students around the world both in person and online.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Jones was awarded a full scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied under the tutelage of the late NEA Jazz Master Albert “Tootie” Heath. In 1992 Jones was a semifinalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drum Competition. He can be heard on a host of recordings, including Wynton Marsalis’ Motherless Brooklyn Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Horace Silver’s Jazz Has a Sense of Humor (Impulse!), Kurt Elling’s Grammy Award–nominated Night Moves (Concord), Roy Hargrove's Moment to Moment (Verve) and Eric Reed's Stand (WJ3). He has released a series of recordings as a leader and to critical acclaim. These titles include Fallen Heroes (2021), My Point Is... (2017), Groundwork (2015), and The Willie Jones III Sextet Plays The Music of Max Roach Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (2013), received high praise from both jazz critics and in top tier outlets such as the New York Times.