Jazz great Hank Jones dies at 91

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Hank Jones, whose 70-year career included accompanying Marilyn Monroe when she sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy, has died. He was 91.

Manager Jean Pierre Leduc says Jones died Sunday at a hospital in New York after a brief illness.

Jones won a Grammy lifetime achievement award last year and received the National Medal of Arts in 2008. He also worked as an accompanist to Ella Fitzgerald.

He continued to perform until the end. He was set to play at the landmark Birdland Jazz Club in New York City next week.

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