Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Jones had aspiration of a career as a big band musician. By the 50s, he was playing French horn and trumpet and also arranging the music for Lionel Hampton and later Dizzy Gillespie. In the early 60s, Jones became the vice president of artists and repertory at Mercury Records and was involved in the careers of and often arranged music for artists like Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Sarah Vaughn, and others. It was during this same period that he composed the music for "Pojken i tradet/The Boy in the Tree" (1960). Five years later, Sidney Lumet employed Jones as composer for "The Pawnbroker", possibly the first time an African American had created the music for a mainstream motion picture. His atonal, jangling score perfectly matched the character study and he soon became one of the most sought after composers in Hollywood. Jones was nominated for Oscars for the scores of "In Cold Blood" (1967) and for the song "The Eyes of Love" from "Banning" (1967), and the title song for "For Love of Ivy" (1969). His scoring continued well into the 80s, including the Academy Award-nominated "The Color Purple" (1985), a film on which Jones also served as co-producer. On TV, Jones is best recalled for his Emmy-winning theme and background music for the ground-breaking ABC miniseries "Roots" (1977), but his work dates back to the 1966 TV series, "Hey, Landlord" and encompasses several early Bill Cosby series, and the original theme to "The Oprah Winfrey Show". He is also an owner of several TV stations, including one in New Orleans.
A revered record producer, Jones has developed the careers and produced the albums of numerous other artists. Many critics felt that Michael Jackson did his best work with the Jones-produced "Off the Wall" and "Thriller". He also conceived the magazine VIBE as an urban ROLLING STONE and oversaw the 1997 launch of a TV version of the show in the crowded late night talk show circuit. Jones' prolific career was spotlighted in the 1990 documentary "Listen Up".