Elayne Jones (1928-2022) was an American timpanist and percussionist, a pioneering Black woman in the orchestral world. She performed with major American ensembles and broke important barriers for women and Black musicians in classical music.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears in Stokowski’s twentieth-century repertory with the San Francisco Symphony and related forces.

Jones’s importance lies not only in performance but in presence: the visibility of a musician succeeding in spaces that were often closed to artists like her. Percussion may stand at the back of the stage, but history hears it clearly.

Her page deserves a marker. Jones brought rhythmic authority and barrier-breaking force to the orchestral platform.