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Elvin Jones

October 25, 2023

Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.[1]

Elvin Jones
Jones in 1979
Background information
Birth nameElvin Ray Jones
Born(1927-09-09)September 9, 1927
Pontiac, Michigan, U.S.
DiedMay 18, 2004(2004-05-18) (aged 76)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • bandleader
Instrument(s)
  • Drums
  • percussion
Years active1948–2004

Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded.[1] Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995.[2] In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz."[3] He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".

Early life Edit

Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan,[4] to parents Henry and Olivia Jones, who had moved to Michigan from Vicksburg, Mississippi.[5] His elder brothers were pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones, both highly regarded musicians.[6] By age two he said drums held a special fascination for him. He would watch the circus parades go past his home as a child, and was particularly excited by the marching band drummers.

Following this early passion, Elvin joined his high school's black marching band, where he developed his foundation in rudiments. Jones served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949.[6] With his mustering-out pay (and an additional $35 borrowed from his sister), Jones purchased his first drumset.[7]

Career Edit

1949–1960 Edit

Jones began his professional career in 1949 with a short-lived gig in a club on Detroit's Grand River Street.[5] Eventually he went on to play with artists including Billy Mitchell and Wardell Gray. In 1955, after a failed audition for the Benny Goodman band, he found work in New York City, joining Miles Davis and Charles Mingus[5] for their Blue Moods album on Mingus's co-owned Debut label.[8] During the late 1950s, Jones was a member of the Sonny Rollins trio[6] that recorded most of the album A Night at the Village Vanguard, an album cited as a high point for both Rollins and for 1950s jazz in general.[9][10]

1960–1966: Association with John Coltrane Edit

In 1960, he began playing with John Coltrane.[4] By 1962, he had become an integral member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet along with bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner.[4] Jones and Coltrane would often play 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 had done during earlier stages of jazz's development. Jones said of that period playing with Coltrane: "Every night when we hit the bandstand—no matter if we'd come five hundred or a thousand miles—the weariness just dropped from us. It was one of the most beautiful things a man can experience. If there is anything like perfect harmony in human relationships, that band was as close as you can come."[5]

Jones stayed with Coltrane until early 1966. By then, Jones was not entirely comfortable with Coltrane's new direction, especially as his polyrhythmic style clashed with the "multidirectional" approach of the group's second drummer, Rashied Ali. "I couldn't hear what was going on... I felt I just couldn't contribute."[5]

 
Elvin Jones at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, California. April 22, 1980.

Post-Coltrane career Edit

Jones remained active after leaving the Coltrane group, and led several bands in the late 1960s and 1970s that are considered influential groups.[6] 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 albums Puttin' It Together and The Ultimate. Jones recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name in the late 1960s and early 1970s with groups that featured prominent as well as up and coming musicians. The two-volume Live at the Lighthouse showcases a 21- and 26-year-old Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman, respectively. Jones also played on many albums of the "modal jazz era", such as The Real McCoy with McCoy Tyner and Speak No Evil with Wayne Shorter.

Beginning in the early 1980s, Jones performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, whose lineup changed through the years.[11] Both Sonny Fortune and Ravi Coltrane, John Coltrane's son, played saxophone with the Jazz Machine in the early 1990s, appearing together with Jones on In Europe on Enja Records in 1991. His final recording as a band leader, The Truth: Heard Live at the Blue Note, recorded in 1999 and issued in 2004, featured an enlarged version of his Jazz Machine—Antoine Roney (sax), Robin Eubanks (trombonist), Darren Barrett (trumpet), Carlos McKinney (piano), Gene Perla (bass), and guest saxophonist Michael Brecker.[12] In 1990 and 1992, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine partnered with Wynton Marsalis, performing at The Bottom Line in New York.[13] Among his last recordings was accompanying his brother, pianist Hank Jones, and bassist Richard Davis on an album titled Autumn Leaves under the name The Great Jazz Trio.[11][14]

Other musicians who made significant contributions to Jones'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.

In 1969, Jones played drums for beat poet Allen Ginsberg's 1970 LP Songs of Innocence and Experience, a musical adaptation of William Blake's poetry collection of the same name.[15]

He appeared as the villain Job Cain in the 1971 musical Western film Zachariah,[16] in which he performed a drum solo after winning a saloon gunfight.[16]

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. In 2001, Jones was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.[17]

Death Edit

Elvin Jones died of heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey, on May 18, 2004.[18] He was survived by his first wife Shirley, children: Elvin Nathan Jones, Rose-Marie Jones, and Alvin Queen, and his common-law second wife Keiko.

Influence Edit

 
Jones performing in 1979

Jones's sense of timing, polyrhythms, dynamics, timbre, and legato phrasing helped bring the drumset to the foreground. In a 1970 profile published in Life Magazine, Albert Goldman dubbed Jones "the world's greatest rhythm drummer",[19] and his free-flowing style was a major influence on many leading drummers, including Christian Vander (Magma), Mitch Mitchell[20] (whom Jimi Hendrix called "my Elvin Jones"[21]), Ginger Baker,[22] Bill Bruford,[23] John Densmore (The Doors) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney).

Discography Edit

Main article: Elvin Jones discography

Filmography Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ a b c Yanow, Scott. "Elvin Jones". AllMusic. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  2. ^ "Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014". Modern Drummer. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. ^ Gioia, Ted (1997). The history of jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 0-19-512653-X.
  4. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 682–3. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  5. ^ a b c d e Balliett, Whitney (May 18, 1968). "A Walk to the Park, Profile (Elvin Jones)". bangthedrumschool.com. The New Yorker. pp. 45–70. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 18, 1968. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 230/1. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  7. ^ Gross, Terry. "Elvin Jones NPR interview". NPR.org. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
  8. ^ Werlin, Mark (March 11, 2017). "Charles Mingus And Miles Davis: Changing Moods". www.allaboutjazz.com. All About Jazz. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Yanow, Scott (November 2, 2010). "Hard Bop (Essay)". Allmusic. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  10. ^ Cook, Richard and Brian Morton (2008), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th edn), Penguin, p. 1233.
  11. ^ a b Mattingly, Rick. "Elvin Jones". PAS.org. Percussive Arts Society. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  12. ^ Kelman, John (October 13, 2004). "Elvin Jones Jazz Machine: The Truth: Heard Live At The Blue Note". www.AllAboutJazz.com. All About Jazz. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  13. ^ "Elvin Jones Jazz Machine with Wynton Marsalis". wyntonmarsalis.org. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  14. ^ "The Great Jazz Trio - Autumn Leaves". www.discogs.com. May 18, 2004. Retrieved December 30, 2021. Recorded 2002; released 2004.
  15. ^ Jurek, Thom (2017). "The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience - Allen Ginsberg". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Greenspun, Roger (January 25, 1971). "Zachariah (1970) Screen: 'Zachariah,' an odd Western". The New York Times.
  17. ^ "Berklee Honors Rollins, Holds Summer Clinics". Jazztimes.com. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  18. ^ "Elvin Jones, Jazz Drummer With Coltrane, Dies at 76". The New York Times. May 19, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  19. ^ Goldman, Albert (February 6, 1970). "Elvin Jones' Kinesthetic Trip: World's Best Rhythm Drummer". Life. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  20. ^ Herman, Gary (December 1981/January 1982)."The Continuing Experience of Mitch Mitchell". Modern Drummer. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  21. ^ Heatley, Michael; Shapiro, Harry (2009). Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll. Voyageur Press. p. 166.
  22. ^ Gillin, Beth (January 13, 1968). "The Homogenized Sound". The Camden Courier-Post. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  23. ^ Stump, Paul (1997). The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock. Quartet Books Limited. p. 49. ISBN 0-7043-8036-6.
  24. ^ Jones, Elvin. "VIEW DVD Listing". View.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elvin Jones.
  • Elvin Jones at Drummerworld
  • NEA Jazz Masters

October 25, 2023
elvin, jones, elvin, jones, september, 1927, 2004, american, jazz, drummer, post, jones, 1979background, informationbirth, nameelvin, jonesborn, 1927, september, 1927pontiac, michigan, diedmay, 2004, 2004, aged, englewood, jersey, genresmodal, jazz, avant, gar. Elvin Ray Jones September 9 1927 May 18 2004 was an American jazz drummer of the post bop era 1 Elvin JonesJones in 1979Background informationBirth nameElvin Ray JonesBorn 1927 09 09 September 9 1927Pontiac Michigan U S DiedMay 18 2004 2004 05 18 aged 76 Englewood New Jersey U S GenresModal jazz avant garde jazz hard bop post bopOccupation s Musician bandleaderInstrument s Drums percussionYears active1948 2004 Most famously a member of John Coltrane s quartet with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965 Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things A Love Supreme Ascension and Live at Birdland After 1966 Jones led his own trio and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded 1 Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995 2 In his The History of Jazz jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz 3 He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine s 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 1949 1960 2 2 1960 1966 Association with John Coltrane 2 3 Post Coltrane career 3 Death 4 Influence 5 Discography 6 Filmography 7 References 8 External linksEarly life EditElvin Jones was born in Pontiac Michigan 4 to parents Henry and Olivia Jones who had moved to Michigan from Vicksburg Mississippi 5 His elder brothers were pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones both highly regarded musicians 6 By age two he said drums held a special fascination for him He would watch the circus parades go past his home as a child and was particularly excited by the marching band drummers Following this early passion Elvin joined his high school s black marching band where he developed his foundation in rudiments Jones served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949 6 With his mustering out pay and an additional 35 borrowed from his sister Jones purchased his first drumset 7 Career Edit1949 1960 Edit Jones began his professional career in 1949 with a short lived gig in a club on Detroit s Grand River Street 5 Eventually he went on to play with artists including Billy Mitchell and Wardell Gray In 1955 after a failed audition for the Benny Goodman band he found work in New York City joining Miles Davis and Charles Mingus 5 for their Blue Moods album on Mingus s co owned Debut label 8 During the late 1950s Jones was a member of the Sonny Rollins trio 6 that recorded most of the album A Night at the Village Vanguard an album cited as a high point for both Rollins and for 1950s jazz in general 9 10 1960 1966 Association with John Coltrane Edit In 1960 he began playing with John Coltrane 4 By 1962 he had become an integral member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet along with bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner 4 Jones and Coltrane would often play 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 had done during earlier stages of jazz s development Jones said of that period playing with Coltrane Every night when we hit the bandstand no matter if we d come five hundred or a thousand miles the weariness just dropped from us It was one of the most beautiful things a man can experience If there is anything like perfect harmony in human relationships that band was as close as you can come 5 Jones stayed with Coltrane until early 1966 By then Jones was not entirely comfortable with Coltrane s new direction especially as his polyrhythmic style clashed with the multidirectional approach of the group s second drummer Rashied Ali I couldn t hear what was going on I felt I just couldn t contribute 5 nbsp Elvin Jones at Keystone Korner San Francisco California April 22 1980 Post Coltrane career Edit Jones remained active after leaving the Coltrane group and led several bands in the late 1960s and 1970s that are considered influential groups 6 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 albums Puttin It Together and The Ultimate Jones recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name in the late 1960s and early 1970s with groups that featured prominent as well as up and coming musicians The two volume Live at the Lighthouse showcases a 21 and 26 year old Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman respectively Jones also played on many albums of the modal jazz era such as The Real McCoy with McCoy Tyner and Speak No Evil with Wayne Shorter Beginning in the early 1980s Jones performed and recorded with his own group the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine whose lineup changed through the years 11 Both Sonny Fortune and Ravi Coltrane John Coltrane s son played saxophone with the Jazz Machine in the early 1990s appearing together with Jones on In Europe on Enja Records in 1991 His final recording as a band leader The Truth Heard Live at the Blue Note recorded in 1999 and issued in 2004 featured an enlarged version of his Jazz Machine Antoine Roney sax Robin Eubanks trombonist Darren Barrett trumpet Carlos McKinney piano Gene Perla bass and guest saxophonist Michael Brecker 12 In 1990 and 1992 the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine partnered with Wynton Marsalis performing at The Bottom Line in New York 13 Among his last recordings was accompanying his brother pianist Hank Jones and bassist Richard Davis on an album titled Autumn Leaves under the name The Great Jazz Trio 11 14 Other musicians who made significant contributions to Jones 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 In 1969 Jones played drums for beat poet Allen Ginsberg s 1970 LP Songs of Innocence and Experience a musical adaptation of William Blake s poetry collection of the same name 15 He appeared as the villain Job Cain in the 1971 musical Western film Zachariah 16 in which he performed a drum solo after winning a saloon gunfight 16 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 In 2001 Jones was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music 17 Death EditElvin Jones died of heart failure in Englewood New Jersey on May 18 2004 18 He was survived by his first wife Shirley children Elvin Nathan Jones Rose Marie Jones and Alvin Queen and his common law second wife Keiko Influence Edit nbsp Jones performing in 1979Jones s sense of timing polyrhythms dynamics timbre and legato phrasing helped bring the drumset to the foreground In a 1970 profile published in Life Magazine Albert Goldman dubbed Jones the world s greatest rhythm drummer 19 and his free flowing style was a major influence on many leading drummers including Christian Vander Magma Mitch Mitchell 20 whom Jimi Hendrix called my Elvin Jones 21 Ginger Baker 22 Bill Bruford 23 John Densmore The Doors and Janet Weiss Sleater Kinney Discography EditMain article Elvin Jones discographyFilmography Edit1979 A Different Drummer Rhapsody 1 1996 Elvin Jones Jazz Machine VIEW 24 1971 Zachariah directed by George EnglundReferences Edit a b c Yanow Scott Elvin Jones AllMusic Retrieved October 19 2011 Modern Drummer s Readers Poll Archive 1979 2014 Modern Drummer Retrieved August 10 2015 Gioia Ted 1997 The history of jazz New York Oxford University Press p 304 ISBN 0 19 512653 X a b c Colin Larkin ed 1997 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music Concise ed Virgin Books pp 682 3 ISBN 1 85227 745 9 a b c d e Balliett Whitney May 18 1968 A Walk to the Park Profile Elvin Jones bangthedrumschool com The New Yorker pp 45 70 Archived from the original PDF on May 18 1968 Retrieved December 30 2021 a b c d Colin Larkin ed 1992 The Guinness Who s Who of Jazz First ed Guinness Publishing p 230 1 ISBN 0 85112 580 8 Gross Terry Elvin Jones NPR interview NPR org Retrieved May 30 2007 Werlin Mark March 11 2017 Charles Mingus And Miles Davis Changing Moods www allaboutjazz com All About Jazz Retrieved December 30 2021 Yanow Scott November 2 2010 Hard Bop Essay Allmusic Retrieved August 24 2012 Cook Richard and Brian Morton 2008 The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 9th edn Penguin p 1233 a b Mattingly Rick Elvin Jones PAS org Percussive Arts Society Retrieved December 30 2021 Kelman John October 13 2004 Elvin Jones Jazz Machine The Truth Heard Live At The Blue Note www AllAboutJazz com All About Jazz Retrieved December 30 2021 Elvin Jones Jazz Machine with Wynton Marsalis wyntonmarsalis org Retrieved December 30 2021 The Great Jazz Trio Autumn Leaves www discogs com May 18 2004 Retrieved December 30 2021 Recorded 2002 released 2004 Jurek Thom 2017 The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience Allen Ginsberg AllMusic Retrieved April 28 2019 a b Greenspun Roger January 25 1971 Zachariah 1970 Screen Zachariah an odd Western The New York Times Berklee Honors Rollins Holds Summer Clinics Jazztimes com Retrieved July 21 2017 Elvin Jones Jazz Drummer With Coltrane Dies at 76 The New York Times May 19 2004 Retrieved December 4 2017 Goldman Albert February 6 1970 Elvin Jones Kinesthetic Trip World s Best Rhythm Drummer Life Retrieved March 15 2020 Herman Gary December 1981 January 1982 The Continuing Experience of Mitch Mitchell Modern Drummer Retrieved March 15 2020 Heatley Michael Shapiro Harry 2009 Jimi Hendrix Gear The Guitars Amps amp Effects That Revolutionized Rock n Roll Voyageur Press p 166 Gillin Beth January 13 1968 The Homogenized Sound The Camden Courier Post Retrieved March 15 2020 Stump Paul 1997 The Music s All that Matters A History of Progressive Rock Quartet Books Limited p 49 ISBN 0 7043 8036 6 Jones Elvin VIEW DVD Listing View com Retrieved October 19 2011 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elvin Jones Elvin Jones Biography amp Interview at Drum Elvin Jones at Drummerworld NEA Jazz Masters Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Elvin Jones amp oldid 1181395124, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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