Allegro
Requiem
Volume CVIII, No. 6June, 2008
Bernardo Altmann – Cello
Ken Arzberger – Saxophone
Don Cameron – Tenor Saxophone
Thomas D. Chapin – Saxophone
John Delaveau – Drums
Saul Feldstein – Drums
Mona Hinton – Piano
Herman F. Jobelmann – Bass
Earl Knight – Piano
Jay Manning – Trumpet
Joseph F. Peacock Jr – Bass
Ervin C. Simpson – Alto Sax
L. D. Strickland – Piano
Alan F. Timpson – Clarinet
Wayne Wright – Guitar
Mona Hinton, 89, a pianist and the widow of jazz bassist Milt Hinton, died on May 3. Ms. Hinton had been an 802 member since 1980.
According to AllAboutJazz.com, the Hintons first met at Mr. Hinton’s grandmother’s funeral in 1939 and were inseparable for the next 61 years. Mrs. Hinton traveled extensively with her husband throughout his career. She was the only spouse on the road with the Cab Calloway Orchestra in the 1940’s, where, according to her husband, Mrs. Hinton was extremely helpful in finding rooms and meals for band members, especially when the band worked in small towns during the Jim Crow era. During the 50’s and 60’s when her husband was working day and night in the New York studios, Mrs. Hinton kept the books and made often complicated transportation arrangements. And during the last two decades of his life, husband and wife got to travel to jazz festivals and clinics around the world — first class.
In 1958, at her husband’s request, Mrs. Hinton took the celebrated home movie footage (the only movie in existence) of the Esquire Magazine photo shoot on a Harlem brownstone stoop that was memorialized in Jean Bach’s film, “A Great Day in Harlem.”
Mrs. Hinton returned to school when she was in her 50’s, earning a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at Queens College. She taught at several Queens elementary schools but gave up full-time work to accompany her husband in his travels
The Hintons were active in many community organizations including the St. Albans (Queens) Congregational Church, and both received numerous awards and honors.
Mrs. Hinton is survived by her sister Mary Louise Bellamy, daughter Charlotte Hinton-Morgan, granddaughter Inez Mona Morgan, great-grandson Kamyron William Morgan and numerous nieces and nephews.
Edited from AllAboutJazz.com.