Harold Jones

Unless otherwise noted, Information is based on Harold Jones' AllMusic web page With Christina Aguilera • My Kind of Christmas (RCA Records, 2000) With Ernestine Anderson • Live at the 1990 Concord Jazz Festival Third Set (Concord Records, 1991) With Count Basie • Basie Straight Ahead (Dot Records, 1968) With Tony Bennett • Duets: An American Classic (Columbia Records, 2006) • A Swingin' Christmas (Columbia, 2008) • Duets II (Columbia, 2011) • Viva Duets (Columbia, 2012) With Elvin Bishop • The Blues Rolls On (Delta Groove, 2008) With Raquel Bitton • Sings Edith Piaf (R.B., 1999) • Dream a Little Dream (R.B., 2002) With Richard Boone • The Singer (Storyville, 1988) With Bruce Broughton • Miracle on 34th Street: Original Soundtrack Album (BMG, 1994) With Red Callender • Basin Street Brass (Legend, 1973) With Judy Carmichael • Two Handed Stride (Progressive, 1982) With Benny Carter • Live and Well in Japan! (Pablo, 1978) With Natalie Cole • Unforgettable... with Love (Elektra Records, 1991) • Take a Look (Elektra Records, 1993) • Holly & Ivy (Elektra, 1994) • Stardust (Elektra Records, 1996) • Snowfall on the Sahara (Elektra Records, 1999) • Still Unforgettable (Atco, 2008) With Michael Feinstein • Such Sweet Sorrow (Atlantic Records, 1995) With Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett • Cheek to Cheek (Columbia Records, 2014) • Love for Sale (Columbia Records, 2021) With João Gilberto • João Gilberto and the Stylists of Bossa Nova Sing Antonio Carlos Jobim (Cherry Red, 2017) With Amy Grant • Home for Christmas (A&M Records, 1992) With Bunky Green • Playin' for Keeps (Cadet, 1966) With John Handy • Carnival (ABC Records, 1977) With Eddie Harris Jazz Band • The Exodus to Jazz (Vee-Jay, 1961) • Mighty Like a Rose (Vee-Jay, 1961) • A Study in Jazz (Vee-Jay, 1962) With Gene Harris • Black and Blue (Concord Records, 1991) • World Tour 1990 (Concord Records, 1991) With Linda Hopkins • Deep in the Night (View Video, 2009) With Quincy Jones & Sammy Nestico Orchestra • Basie and Beyond (Warner Bros. Records, 2000) With Marian McPartland • Plays the Benny Carter Songbook (Concord Records, 1990) • Silent Pool (Concord Records, 1997) With Walter Norris Trio • Lush Life (Concord Records, 1991) With Oscar Peterson • Soul Español (Limelight, 1966) With Pitbull • El Mariel (Bad Boy Latino, 2006) • The Boatlift (Bad Boy Latino, 2007) With Diane Schuur • Pure Schuur (GRP, 1991) With Andy Simpkins Quintet • Calamba (Discovery, 1989) With Michael W. Smith • Christmastime (Reunion, 1998) With Thomas Talbert • Louisiana Suite (Sea Breeze, 1977) With Clark Terry • Reunion (D'Note Classics, 1995) With John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John • This Christmas (UME, 2012) With Sarah Vaughan • Crazy and Mixed Up (Pablo, 1982) With Sarah Vaughan and Los Angeles Philharmonic • Gershwin Live! (Columbia Records, 1982) With Larry Vuckovich and Jon Hendricks • Reunion (Tetrachord, 2004) With Robbie Williams • Swing When You're Winning (Chrysalis Records, 2001) With Paul Winter Sextet • Jazz Meets the Bossa Nova (Columbia Records, 1962) With Paul Winter Consort • Spanish Angel (Living Music, 1993) With Amy Winehouse • Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Island, 2011)

In 2013 Jones was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. In 1972 he won Best New Artist in the Down Beat magazine critics' poll. Saxophonist and band leader Paul Winter called Jones "the personification of jazz." Music critic Bruce H. Klauber has written that, "Jones is the quintessential big-band drummer with a crisp, clean sound notable for the high-pitched snare drum crack." Critic Jess Hamlin called Jones, "One of the best drummers in the business." Basie is said to have told drummer Louie Bellson that "Harold Jones was my favorite drummer." Jones is the subject of a biography published in 2011, Harold Jones: The Singer's Drummer. On June 16, 2026, at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jones was presented with the Musicians' Enduring Legacy Organization's annual MELO Enduring Legacy Award for his outstanding contributions to modern American music. "Workers don't always get the credit," said Jones, who was presented with the award by MELO founder and CEO Josephine Beavers in a glittering evening emceed by journalist Bill Whitaker. "People see the name that goes up on the billboard, but it doesn't list everyone in the band. I felt like the headliner that night."