NEW YORK — Hank Jones, a jazz master pianist who played with many of the greats, has died in New York, aged 91.
His agent Jean-Pierre Leduc confirmed his death Sunday after an illness that started in March. Leduc said he had seen him "serene and smiling" in hospital on Saturday.
Jones was born in 1918 in Mississippi in a jazz family that included Elvin Jones, the legendary drummer for John Coltrane, and trumpeter-composer Thad Jones.
Inducted to the US National Endowment for the Arts as a jazz master and to the International Jazz Hall of Fame, Jones played often in the background until later in life.
He was one of the survivors of jazz's golden era during which he played with Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie "Bird" Parker and Benny Goodman.
He accompanied Marilyn Monroe when she sang "Happy Birthday Mr President" to president John F. Kennedy.
"In over seventy years as a jazz pianist and composer, his playing style has embodied the essence of mainstream jazz making him one of the most sought after and recorded jazz pianists throughout jazz history," his official website said.
From his 60s, Jones developed a new career, moving out of the sidelines to record and perform under his own name.
The New York Times in 1989 enthusiastically reviewed a performance by Jones, saying he "resonates with jazz history."
In the 1990s he combined his piano with a variety of other genres, ranging from classical to spirituals.
He toured Europe in 2009, with shows in Vienna, Paris, Geneva, the Czech Republic and Istanbul.
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