Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones |
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Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era.[1] He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan.
He served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949 and subsequently played in a Detroit houseband led by Billy Mitchell. He moved to New York in 1955 and worked as a sideman for Charles Mingus, Teddy Charles, Bud Powell and Miles Davis.[1]
From 1960 to 1966 he was a member of the John Coltrane quartet, a celebrated recording phase, appearing on such albums as A Love Supreme. Following his work with John Coltrane, Jones led several small groups, some under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. He recorded with both of his brothers during his career, jazz musicians Hank Jones and Thad Jones.[1]
Biography
Early life
Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan. By age two he said he knew he held a fascination for drums. He would watch the circus marching band parades go by his home as a boy, particularly fascinated by the drummers (sometimes wandering off for miles after the parade). Following his early passion, Elvin joined his high school's black marching band, where he developed his foundation in rudiments. Jones began service in the United States Army in 1946. He was discharged in 1949, and returned home penniless. Jones said he borrowed thirty-five dollars from his sister when he got back to buy his first drumset.[2]
Elvin began his professional career in 1949 with a short-lived gig in Detroit's Grand River Street club. Eventually he went on to play with artists such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Wardell Gray. In 1955, after a failed audition for the Benny Goodman band, he found work in New York, joining Charles Mingus's band, and releasing a record called J is for Jazz.
1960-1966: John Coltrane and Beyond
In 1960, he joined with the classic John Coltrane Quartet, which also included bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner. Jones and Coltrane often played extended duet passages. This band is widely considered to have redefined "swing" (the rhythmic feel of jazz) in much the same way that Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and others did during earlier stages of jazz's development. He stayed with Coltrane until 1966. By that time, Jones was not entirely comfortable with Coltrane's new direction and his polyrhythmic style clashed with the "multidirectional" approach of the group's second drummer, Rashied Ali.
Jones remained active after leaving the John Coltrane group, and led several bands in the late sixties and seventies that are considered highly influential groups. Notable among them was a trio formed with saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Farrell and (ex-Coltrane) bassist Jimmy Garrison, with whom he recorded the Blue Note album Puttin' It Together. Jones recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name in the late sixties and early seventies, with groups that featured prominent as well as up and coming greats. The two volume Live at The Lighthouse showcases a 21- and 26-year-old Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman, respectively. Other musicians of note who made significant contributions to Elvin's music during this period were baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, tenor saxophonists George Coleman and Frank Foster, trumpeter Lee Morgan, bassist Gene Perla, keyboardist Jan Hammer and Jazz - World Music group Oregon.
Late career
Elvin Jones' sense of timing, polyrhythms, dynamics, timbre, and legato phrasing brought the drumset to the foreground. Jones was touted by Life Magazine as "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer", and his free-flowing style was a major influence on many leading rock drummers, including Mitch Mitchell (whom Jimi Hendrix called "my Elvin Jones") and Ginger Baker. He appeared as the villain Job Cain in the 1971 off-beat Western film Zachariah, in which he performed a drum solo after winning a saloon gunfight. In 1999, Jones worked with Our Lady Peace on their album Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. He was featured playing drums on the song "Stealing Babies", which was also featured on their 2009 compilation album The Very Best of Our Lady Peace.
Jones performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, whose line up changed through the years. Sonny Fortune and Ravi Coltrane, John Coltrane's son, both played saxophone with the Jazz Machine in the early 1990s, appearing together with Jones on In Europe on Enja Records in 1991. Jones, who taught regularly, often took part in clinics, played in schools, and gave free concerts in prisons. His lessons emphasized music history as well as drumming technique.
Elvin Jones died of heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey on May 18, 2004. He is survived by his first wife Shirley and his second, albeit common-law, wife Keiko (Elvin married Keiko before divorcing Shirley, meaning that legally he and Keiko were not married). Elvin Jones is survived by his son Elvin Nathan Jones of California and daughter Rose-Marie Rosie Nyberg of Sweden.
Discography
As leader
As sideman
| Year | Album | Leader | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Swing...Not Spring! | Billy Mitchell | Savoy Records |
| 1955 | Blue Moods | Miles Davis | Prestige Records |
| 1956 | Farmer's Market | Art Farmer | New Jazz |
| 1956-57 | The Jones Boys | Quincy Jones | Everest Recordings |
| 1957 | Paul Chambers Quintet | Paul Chambers | Blue Note |
| 1957 | Night at the Village Vanguard | Sonny Rollins | Blue Note |
| 1957 | Blue Moods | Kenny Burrell | Prestige (7088) |
| 1958 | Reflections | Steve Lacy | New Jazz (8206) |
| 1959 | All the Gin Is Gone | Jimmy Forrest | Delmark |
| 1959 | Black Forrest | Jimmy Forrest | Delmark |
| 1959 | Great Jazz Standards | Gil Evans | World Pacific |
| 1959 | Sketches of Spain | Miles Davis | Columbia |
| 1960 | Coltrane Plays the Blues | John Coltrane | Atlantic |
| 1960 | Coltrane's Sound | John Coltrane | Atlantic |
| 1960 | My Favorite Things | John Coltrane | Atlantic |
| 1961 | Coltrane Jazz (only on 1 track) | John Coltrane | Atlantic |
| 1961 | Africa/Brass | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1961 | Live! at the Village Vanguard | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1961 | Into Something | Yusef Lateef | New Jazz |
| 1961 | Motion | Lee Konitz | Verve |
| 1962 | Ready for Freddie | Freddie Hubbard | Blue Note |
| 1962 | Ballads | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1962 | Coltrane | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1962 | Inception | McCoy Tyner | Impulse! |
| 1963 | Today and Tomorrow | McCoy Tyner | Impulse! |
| 1963 | Impressions | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1963 | John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1963 | Live at Birdland | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1964 | Crescent | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1964 | A Love Supreme | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1964 | Judgment! | Andrew Hill | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Stan Getz & Bill Evans | Stan Getz, Bill Evans | Verve |
| 1964 | Bob Brookmeyer and Friends | Bob Brookmeyer | Verve |
| 1964 | Night Dreamer | Wayne Shorter | Blue Note |
| 1964 | JuJu | Wayne Shorter | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Speak No Evil | Wayne Shorter | Blue Note |
| 1964 | McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington | McCoy Tyner | Impulse! |
| 1964 | Matador | Grant Green | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Street of Dreams | Grant Green | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Solid | Grant Green | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Talkin' About! | Grant Green | Blue Note |
| 1964 | In 'N Out | Joe Henderson | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Inner Urge | Joe Henderson | Blue Note |
| 1964 | Into Somethin' | Larry Young | Blue Note |
| 1964 | The Individualism of Gil Evans | Gil Evans | Verve |
| 1965 | Unity | Larry Young | Blue Note |
| 1965 | Rip, Rig and Panic | Roland Kirk | Limelight |
| 1965 | I Want to Hold Your Hand | Grant Green | Blue Note |
| 1965 | The John Coltrane Quartet Plays | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Om | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | New Thing at Newport | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Gleanings | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Transition | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | First Meditations | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Living Space | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Sun Ship | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Meditations | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Kulu Sé Mama | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1965 | Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1966 | Live In Seattle | John Coltrane | Impulse! |
| 1966 | East Broadway Run Down | Sonny Rollins | Impulse! |
| 1966 | Blue Spirits | Freddie Hubbard | Blue Note |
| 1967 | The Lee Konitz Duets | Lee Konitz | Milestone |
| 1967 | The Real McCoy | McCoy Tyner | Blue Note |
| 1968 | Love Call[3] | Ornette Coleman | Blue Note |
| 1970 | Extensions | McCoy Tyner | Blue Note |
| 1971 | Outback | Joe Farrell | CTI |
| 1975 | Trident | McCoy Tyner | Milestone |
| 1976 | Together | Oregon | Vanguard |
| 1977 | Something For Lester | Ray Brown | OJC |
| 1987 | But Beautiful | Lew Soloff | King Records |
| 1990 | Special Quartet | David Murray | DIW/Columbia |
| 1991 | Ask the Ages | Sonny Sharrock | Axiom Records |
| 1995 | After the Rain | John McLaughlin | Verve |
| 1999 | Jones for Elvin - Volumes 1 and 2 | Steve Griggs | Hip City Music |
| 2001 | With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones | Bill Frisell | Nonesuch |
Filmography
- 1979 A Different Drummer (Rhapsody)[4]
- 1996 Elvin Jones: Jazz Machine (VIEW)[5]
- 1971 Zachariah MGM DVD
References
- ^ a b c Allmusic Biography
- ^ Gross, Terry. "Elvin Jones NPR interview". Retrieved 2007-05-30.
- ^ http://www.jazzdisco.org/ornette-coleman/discography/
- ^ AMG
- ^ VIEW DVD Listing
External links
- 1927 births
- 2004 deaths
- Deaths from myocardial infarction
- People from Pontiac, Michigan
- African American musicians
- American jazz drummers
- Modal jazz drummers
- Musicians from Michigan
- Hard bop drummers
- Post-bop drummers
- Mainstream jazz drummers
- John Coltrane
- Enja Records artists
- Muse Records artists
- MPS Records artists
- Landmark Records artists
- Palo Alto Records artists
- Blue Note Records artists