Gary Jones

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Gary W. Jones (born December 30, 1960) is concessions manager for Birmingham Landmarks, house organist for the Alabama Theatre's "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, and president of the Alabama Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.

Jones is the son of Grady and Sue "Mona" Jones. Jones began taking piano lessons at 4. Around 1977, his family moved from the Cottondale community in Tuscaloosa County to the Shannon community in Jefferson County. He was playing the organ at Pine Haven Baptist Church there by 12.

Jones graduated from Bessemer Academy, where he played trombone in the band, in 1979. He earned a degree in business computer science with a double-minor in theater and in banking and finance from Jacksonville State University in 1983. He went on to become a systems programmer for AT&T.

Jones' earliest memory of the Alabama Theatre and its organ was attending an organ concert by Hector Olivera in the 1970s. Jones was familiar with church and classical organs already, but theatre organ was a new experience for him. He went back to the Alabama for a showing of the silent film, Phantom of the Opera accompanied by Tom Helms in 1981 and was dazzled again. He was invited to join the organ crew that maintained the organ on Saturdays and began doing so regularly.

Jones began playing the organ before the Alabama's classic movie series in the 1980s. Upon retirement as house organist in 2007, Cecil Whitmire asked Jones to take over as house organist at the Alabama. One thing he's known for is dressing as Cousin Eddie for his organ shows before the annual showings of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Jones' parents started running Southeastern Music Gallery in Tuscaloosa in 1994. Jones took early retirement from AT&T to help them run the store. The family closed the store in 2014 when Grady Jones became ill and later died that September. Jones became a full-time employee of Birmingham Landmarks in 2015 as the facilities manager of the Alabama Theatre. But once Birmingham Landmarks finished restoration of the Lyric Theatre in 2016, he became concessions manager for both venues. As of 2019, Jones' mother is part of the concession stand staff.

References

  • Levin, Brett (October 2014) "Pipe Dreams: Gary Jones" B-Metro
  • Carlton, Bob (December 12, 2019) "Meet the man who makes Christmas merry at the Alabama Theatre" AL.com