Oliver Jones, the renowned Montreal jazz pianist, organist, composer and arranger, has died, CTV News has confirmed. He was 91 years old. Jones died after a long illness. In a statement posted on Instagram, Jones’ family and record company, Justin Time Records, said they were deeply saddened to announce his passing. “An exceptional musician, a gentle soul and a friend who touched so many lives, his kindness and immense talent left a lasting mark on so many people and generations, and his memory will continue to inspire us,” the post reads. “He will be profoundly missed. We kindly ask that his family’s privacy be respected as they grieve this tremendous loss. Merci/Thank you.” Jones was born in Montreal on Sept. 11, 1934, and raised in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood. He began playing piano at age five and has a multitude of accolades to his name to attribute to decades of his work. He grew up and rose to stardom in the same impoverished neighbourhood, Little Burgundy, as Oscar Peterson. Jones studied piano as a child under Peterson’s sister Daisy. Rooted in a classical education, Jones went on to forge a more than seven-decade career that spanned nearly all genres and included recordings with such international luminaries as Peterson, Clark Terry, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen, Herb Ellis and Red Mitchell. At the height of his career, Jones was generous with his support for up-and-coming artists, notably becoming one of the first jazz professionals to nurture and encourage a young Diana Krall. His song “Dance Again Diana,” from his 2006 album “One More Time,” is dedicated to her. “There’s a lot of great Canadian musicians, singers that are coming up and no longer are we the poor cousins,” Jones said of the Canadian jazz scene in a 2008 interview with The Canadian Press. “For so many years, when I first went to the U.S., we went over the border and the agent would say, ‘We don’t need you here, we have all the best musicians in the world.’ It was extremely hard for Canadians to get permits to go and work in the States.” Growing up black in Montreal in the ’40s and ’50s was not easy. Jones often credited Peterson, a neighbourhood phenom who lived 15 blocks away from his childhood home, with inspiring him to become an accomplished jazz pianist himself. Pursuing dreams like these promised an exciting future far from the hardships of their parents, he said. “A whole three generations prior to ours, the only jobs that we were able to get were that as porters or other menial jobs,” Jones said in 2008. Jones was awarded the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2005, Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts. In 2003, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He was appointed an officer to the Order of Canada in 1993. The following year, he was appointed a knight for the Ordre national de Québec, and two years later, he was appointed a commander for the Order of Montreal in 1996. Jones won the Montreal Jazz Festival’s Oscar Peterson Award in 1990, named after his lifelong idol. He performed at Montreal’s Jazz Festival for numerous years and won two Juno Awards, several Félix awards and the Special Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto. Jones leaves behind a son, Richard. With files from The Canadian Press.
