Salena Jones (born Joan Elizabeth Shaw, January 29, 1938){{refn|group=nb|Several reliable sources, including 60 Years of Recorded Jazz, 1917–1967 by Walter Bruyninckx, and The Encyclopedia Yearbooks of Jazz by Leonard Feather, give January 29, 1930 as the date of birth of the singer Joan Shaw. The liner notes for her 1961 LP Joan Shaw Sings For Swingers, also written by Feather, state that she "...began singing in amateur programs around town from the time she was 13. Within a couple of years she had graduated to local night clubs, and soon she had her first fling in New York, trying out in the amateur hour at the Apollo Theater. Soon after, in 1948, she was hired as band vocalist with a group led by Paul Williams....". It is clear and uncontested that Joan Shaw later began using the name Salena Jones, after moving to England. However, the sources for Joan Shaw conflict with other sources such as AllMusic,<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/salena-jones-mn0000290681 Chris True, "Salena Jones: Biography, AllMusic]. Retrieved 29 December 2015</ref> and The Rough Guide to Jazz, which give Salena Jones' date of birth as January 29, 1944.}} is an American jazz and cabaret singer. After performing and recording in the US as Joan Shaw from the late 1940s until the early 1960s, in various styles including jazz and R&B, she moved to England and from then on performed as Salena Jones. She has toured internationally and recorded over forty albums. Biography Early life and career According to most sources, she was born Joan Elizabeth Shaw in Newport News, Virginia, though some sources give the name Joan DeCarlo. Her uncle was a vaudeville comedian, dancer and singer, Bootsie Swan. After first singing in her church and school, she started performing in clubs by the age of fifteen. She won a talent contest in New York's Apollo Theater, singing "September Song", and after making demonstration records for Peggy Lee and Lena Horne, acquired her own contract as Joan Shaw. Her first disc was 1949's "He Knows How to Hucklebuck", with the Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams Orchestra, for the Savoy label. In the early 1950s, she recorded for various labels including MGM (1950), Regal, Abbey (both 1951), and Coral (1952), often working with vocal group The Five Keys and the Billy Ford Orchestra. After some time performing in clubs in Florida and elsewhere as a nightclub singer, she began touring with an R&B band, the Blues Express,