Sidney Jones

James Sidney Jones (17 June 1861 – 29 January 1946), usually credited as Sidney Jones, was an English conductor and composer, who was most famous for composing the musical scores for a series of musical comedy hits in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Jones's most famous musical was The Geisha, but several of his pieces were among the most popular shows of the era, enjoying long runs, international tours and revivals.

In 1892, after nine years of conducting touring companies of British operettas for Alfred Cellier and George Edwardes, Edwardes engaged Jones to conduct several operettas and musical comedies in London. Jones had begun composing incidental music and supplemental songs for some of the shows he conducted and even wrote scores of his own in 1889 and 1892. In 1893, one of his songs, "Linger Longer, Loo", composed for the 1892 burlesque Don Juan at the Gaiety Theatre, became popular throughout the English-speaking world.

Jones's first hit show was A Gaiety Girl (1893), one of the first major successes of the Edwardian musical comedy genre. A series of Jones hits followed: An Artist's Model (1894), The Geisha (1896), A Greek Slave (1898) and San Toy (1899). After this, Jones had less frequent and intense successes, but his more popular shows included My Lady Molly (1902), See See (1906), King of Cadonia (1908), The Girl from Utah (1913) and The Happy Day (1916).

Jones was born in Islington, London. His father, James Sidney Jones, Sr. (1837–1914) originally of Suffolk, was a military bandmaster. His mother was Ann Jones, née Eycott. As a child, Jones moved frequently as his father was transferred to new military stations in England and Ireland. The young Jones learned to play a variety of instruments in the band. In Dublin, he studied with Sir Robert Stewart (1825–1894) of Trinity College. The family later moved to Leeds, where his father became conductor of the Leeds Rifles, was the musical director of the Leeds Grand Theatre and later conducted a band and the Spa Orchestra at Harrogate. Jones was the eldest son and second of six children. His youngest brother, Guy Sidney Jones (1875–1959), also became a conductor and composer whose musical scores included The Gay Gordons (1907).

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