1963: Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie’s orchestra, “Honeysuckle Rose”
Those looking to kickstart their Jones listening journey at the very beginning of his career could do so with “Liza,” from his first album, “Jazz Abroad,” a joint release with Roy Haynes. For everyone else, look to his arrangements on 1963’s “Ella and Basie!,” an album by Fitzgerald with Count Basie’s orchestra. Moving from just vocals and bass before building into its own grandness — not to mention, a delightful scat solo from Fitzgerald — “Honeysuckle Rose” from the album is an exemplar of Jones’ jazz brilliance.
Teenage heartbreak met its match on Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party,” recorded when its pop singer was still in her own adolescence. Jones produced the record, with its addictive melodies, percussion and cheerful horn section — emotionally and diametrically opposed to its narrative tale of a girl getting dumped by her boyfriend for her best friend on her birthday. You’d cry, too, if it happened to you.
Jones’ legacy is defined by an idiosyncratic ability to master various American musical forms with an apparent ease. That is the case of this canonized cover by Frank Sinatra, “Fly Me to the Moon,” from Sinatra’s 1964 album, “It Might as Well Be Swing,” arranged by Jones. The producer set the song to a punchy, swinging rhythm and wistful flute, and the rest is history. You can also thank Jones for “The Best Is Yet to Come.”
Jones scored the 1967 film “In the Heat of the Night,” which includes its R&B-gospel title track, “In the Heat of the Night,” performed by his good friend Ray Charles. It is soul committed to wax, amplified by the inclusion of a lusty tenor sax solo.