jones was born in aiken, south carolina, and raised in harlem, new york. still in her teens, she joined buddy johnson's band for a tour although she was not featured on record. her first recordings—"salty papa blues", "evil gal blues", "blow top blues", and "long, long journey"—were produced by leonard feather in 1944, placing her in the company of clarinetist barney bigard and tenor saxophonist georgie auld. in 1947, she recorded and released an early cover version of leon rene's "i sold my heart to the junkman" (previously released by the basin street boys on rene's exclusive label) while at rca victor records. she performed with the earl hines sextet from 1949 to 1952.