A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Elvin Jones (1927-2004): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musician, composer, arranger, ensemble leader, producer, and teacher
Elvin Jones will always be best-known for his association with the classic John Coltrane Quartet
(1960-1965) but he also had a notable career as a bandleader and
continued to be a major influence in music. One of the all-time great
drummers (bridging the gap between advanced hard bop and the
avant-garde), Jones is the younger brother of a remarkable musical family that also includes Hank and Thad Jones.
After spending time in the Army (1946-1949), he was a part of the very
fertile Detroit jazz scene of the early '50s. He moved to New York in
1955, worked with Teddy Charles and the Bud Powell Trio, and recorded with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins (the latter at his famous Village Vanguard session). After stints with J.J. Johnson (1956-1957), Donald Byrd (1958), Tyree Glenn, and Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jones became an important member of John Coltrane's Quartet, pushing the innovative saxophonist to remarkable heights and appearing on most of his best recordings. When Coltrane added Rashied Ali to his band in late 1965 as second drummer, Jones was reportedly not pleased and soon departed. He went on a European tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and then started leading his own groups, which in the '90s became known as Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine. He remained active well into the 2000s and continued to push himself musically with the Jazz Machine, inviting young lions into the fold and touring regularly. Among his sidemen were saxophonists Frank Foster, Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Pepper Adams, Dave Liebman, Pat LaBarbera, Steve Grossman, Andrew White, Ravi Coltrane, and Sonny Fortune, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, pianists Dollar Brand and Willie Pickens, keyboardist Jan Hammer, and bassists Richard Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Wilbur Little, and Gene Perla among others. Jones
recorded as a leader for many labels including Atlantic, Riverside,
Impulse, Blue Note, Enja, PM, Vanguard, Honey Dew, Denon, Storyville,
Evidence, and Landmark. His dedication to and love of the drums were such
that even in the face of health problems he continued to mount the drum
stand, occasionally accompanied by an oxygen tank. On May 18, 2004, drum
legend Elvin Jones suffered heart failure and passed away.
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer. He was
born in Pontiac, Michigan, the youngest child in a family of ten. His
father worked for General Motors. Two of Jones' brothers were also jazz
musicians: Hank (piano), and Thad (trumpet/flugelhorn). Elvin
began playing professionally in the 1940s, working with the Army Special
Services program, Operation Happiness, and in 1949 had 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. 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, both giving and
taking energy through their instruments. This band is widely considered
to have redefined “swing” (the rhythmic feel of jazz) in much the same
way that Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker et al did during earlier stages
of jazz's development. He stayed with Coltrane until 1966. By
that time, Jones was not entirely comfortable with the direction
Coltrane was moving in and his polyrhythmic style clashed with the
“multidirectional” approach of the group's second drummer, Rashied Ali.
After leaving the Coltrane group, Jones played with
Duke Ellington, and eventually formed his own touring group. Jazz
Machine, normally a quintet, continued in the same musical direction.
His sense of timing, polyrhythms, dynamics, timbre, and legato phrasing -
as well as the sheer mass of sound he produced - brought the drumset to
the fore. 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. In 1999, Jones worked with Our Lady Peace, to punt out their album Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. 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 Jones and his second, albeit common-law wife, Keiko
Jones (Elvin married Keiko before divorcing Shirley, meaning that
legally he and Keiko were not married). Elvin Jones is also survived by
son Elvin Nathan Jones of California and daughter Rose-Marie Fromm of
Sweden.
Elvin Jones, Jazz Drummer With Coltrane, Dies at 76
by Peter Keepnews
Elvin
Jones, whose explosive drumming powered the John Coltrane Quartet, the
most influential and controversial jazz ensemble of the 1960's, died
yesterday in Manhattan. He was 76 and lived in Manhattan and Nagasaki,
Japan.
Mr. Jones's death, which came
after several months of failing health, was announced by John
DeChristopher, director of artist relations for the Avedis Zildjian
Company, maker of Mr. Jones's cymbals. Mr. Jones continued to perform
until a few weeks ago, often taking an oxygen tank onto the bandstand.
Mr.
Jones, a fixture of the Coltrane group from late 1960 to early 1966 and
for more than three decades the leader of several noteworthy groups of
his own, was the first great post-bebop percussionist. Building on the
innovations of the jazz modernists Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, who
liberated the drum kit from a purely time-keeping function in the
1940's, he paved the way for a later generation of drummers who
dispensed with a steady rhythmic pulse altogether in the interest of
greater improvisational freedom. But he never lost that pulse: the beat
was always palpable when he played, even as he embellished it with layer
upon layer of interlocking polyrhythms.
The
critic and historian Leonard Feather explained Mr. Jones's significance
this way: ''His main achievement was the creation of what might be
called a circle of sound, a continuum in which no beat of the bar was
necessarily indicated by any specific accent, yet the overall feeling
became a tremendously dynamic and rhythmically important part of the
whole group.''
But if the
self-taught Mr. Jones had a profound influence on other drummers, not
many of them directly emulated his style, at least in part because few
had the stamina for it. None of the images that the critics invoked to
describe his playing -- volcano, thunderstorm, perpetual-motion machine
-- quite did justice to the strength of his attack, the complexity of
his ideas or the originality of his approach.
Elvin
Ray Jones was born in Pontiac, Mich., on Sept. 9, 1927. The youngest of
10 children, he was the third Jones brother to become a professional
musician, following Hank, a respected jazz pianist who is still active,
and Thad, a cornetist, composer, arranger and bandleader, who died in
1986.
He began teaching himself to
play drums at 13, but he had lost his heart to the instrument long
before then. ''I never wanted to play anything else since I was 2,'' he
told one interviewer. ''I would get these wooden spoons from my mother
and beat on the pots and pans in the kitchen.''
After
spending three years in the Army he joined his brothers as a fixture on
the busy Detroit jazz scene of the early 1950's. As the house drummer
at a local nightclub, the Bluebird Inn, he worked with local musicians
like Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Burrell as well as visiting jazz stars
like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.
In
1956 after briefly touring with the bassist Charles Mingus and the
pianist Bud Powell, Mr. Jones moved to New York, where he was soon in
great demand as an accompanist. He occasionally sat in with Miles Davis,
and he later recalled that Coltrane, who was then Davis's saxophonist,
promised to hire Mr. Jones whenever he formed his own group. In the fall
of 1960 Coltrane made good on that promise.
Working with
Coltrane, a relentless musical explorer, emboldened Mr. Jones to expand
the expressive range of his instrument. ''My experience with Coltrane,''
he told the writer James Isaacs in 1973, ''was that John was a catalyst
in my finding the way that drums could be played most musically.'' He
in turn influenced Coltrane, Mr. Jones's ferocious rhythms goading
Coltrane to ecstatic heights in performance and on recordings like ''A
Love Supreme'' and ''Ascension.''
Coltrane's
quartet helped redefine the concept of the jazz combo. Mr. Jones and
the other members of the rhythm section, the pianist McCoy Tyner and the
bassist Jimmy Garrison, did not accompany Coltrane so much as engage
him in an open-ended four-way conversation. Audiences found the group's
intensity galvanizing, and many critics shared their enthusiasm.
But
despite its popularity, the group divided the jazz world. John Tynan of
Down Beat magazine dismissed its music as ''anti-jazz,'' and others
agreed. Mr. Jones's drumming, a revelation to some listeners, was
dismissed by others as overly busy and distractingly loud.
Mr.
Jones left the group in March 1966, shortly after Coltrane, as part of
his constant quest for new sounds, began adding musicians. Although he
never publicly explained why he left, he was widely believed to have
been insulted by Coltrane's decision to hire a second drummer.
Mr.
Jones spent two weeks with Duke Ellington's big band and briefly worked
in Paris before returning to the United States, where he formed a trio
with Garrison, who had also recently left Coltrane, and the saxophonist
Joe Farrell. That group was short-lived, but Mr. Jones continued to lead
small groups for the rest of his life. Over the years many exceptional
musicians passed in and out of the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, as the
ensemble came to be known in all its various incarnations, and the group
performed regularly all over the world and recorded prolifically.
Mr.
Jones's survivors include his wife, Keiko, who also managed his career
and composed several of the pieces in his band's repertory, and his
brother Hank.
Mr.
Jones came to see it as his mission to offer training and experience to
promising young musicians, and in recent years he gave early exposure
to budding jazz stars like the saxophonist Joshua Redman, the trumpeter
Nicholas Payton and the trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis. A particularly
noteworthy addition to the Jazz Machine lineup in the 1990's was the
saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, John's son.
Mr.
Jones was also a tireless proselytizer for an instrument that he
believed was too often maligned and misunderstood. ''I played a job in a
bar once as a young man,'' he told his fellow drummer Lewis Nash in a
1997 interview for Down Beat. ''One of the customers came up to me and
said, 'Hey, make some noise.' What he really meant was that he wanted me
to play a drum solo. So that is a general perception, and that way of
thinking still exists.''
''People never understood,'' he continued, ''that the drum is a musical instrument.''
Correction:
May 20, 2004, Thursday Because of an editing error, an obituary of the
jazz drummer Elvin Jones yesterday misstated the place of his death. It
was Englewood, N.J., not Manhattan.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 23 of the National edition with the headline: Elvin Jones, Jazz Drummer With Coltrane, Dies at 76. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper
Born on September 9, 1927, in Pontiac, Michigan, Elvin Ray Jones was
the younger brother of jazz pianist Hank Jones and the late trumpet
player and bandleader Thad Jones. After tenth grade, Jones began gigging
around Pontiac, sometimes with his brothers, using borrowed drums. At
age 18 he joined the Army and spent the next three years playing in a
military band. After
being discharged from the Army, Elvin returned to Michigan, acquired
his first drumset, and began gigging in Detroit. He quickly landed a gig
in the house band at the Bluebird Club, which was led by Billy
Mitchell. Elvin recalled all-night jam sessions and getting the chance
to play with prominent jazz musicians when they appeared in town. During
1955 he toured with bassist Charles Mingus and pianist Bud Powell. Jones went to New York City in 1956 and was soon gigging and
recording with a variety of artists, including J.J. Johnson, Donald
Byrd, Tyree Glenn, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Miles Davis, Paul Chambers,
Pepper Adams, and Stan Getz. One of Elvin's most significant recordings
during this period was with Sonny Rollins on an album titled Live at the
Village Vanguard . That recording remains an important document of
Elvin's emerging style. The timekeeping is fairly traditional bop
drumming, but when Jones and Rollins trade fours on "Sonnymoon for Two,"
many of the characteristics of Elvin's later style emerge, such as the
thunderous tom rolls, the use of polyrhythms, a dramatic sense of color,
and a dose of bombast. You also hear Jones and Rollins dispense with
metric accuracy as they overlap phrases in the style of a true musical
conversation. "To me, that was a great release," Elvin explained. "The only time I
was able to play with that kind of expression prior to that was when I
worked with Bud Powell. When exchanging fours or eights, I was always
thinking in terms of musical phrasing as far as the composition was
concerned. I think the phrasing should never be confined to a rigid
pattern. Why shouldn't it overlap? If everyone is paying attention, it
shouldn't make any difference. You can simply pick up from where the
other person left off, and he can come in where he wants in order to
complete the continuity of the phrase." The Rollins recording helped validate Elvin's emerging style, which
some musicians at the time criticized. In the documentary film A
Different Drummer: Elvin Jones , Elvin comments that when he first began
his career, the word was out that he was hard to play with because of
his unorthodox style. But Elvin remained positive--and practical. "It's hard for a young person when you feel that what you're doing is
correct, but you're not fully accepted," Elvin said in 1982. "I'm sure,
though, that Monk and Miles and everybody else who ever had new ideas
has had the same experience. So this was simply my turn to have that
experience. But then, I wasn't stupid either. On some gigs, believe me,
you just play it the way the bandleader calls it and leave it at that.
Don't try to fight the system. Go ahead and make your union scale and
tomorrow's another day. Look at it that way, which isn't compromising;
it's simply that you're being sensible--you're being realistic." In 1960, Elvin joined the John Coltrane Quartet. It was the perfect
setting for his style, and Elvin and "Trane" were truly partners as they
simultaneously explored rhythm and melody. Jones developed an original
approach in which every part of the drumset contributed to the forward
momentum of the music. "You can't isolate the different parts of the
drumset any more than you can isolate your left leg from the rest of
your body," Elvin contended. "Your body is one, even though you have two
legs, two arms, ten fingers, and all of that. All of those parts add up
to one human being. It's the same with the instrument. People are never
going to approach the drumset correctly if they don't start thinking of
it as a single musical instrument." Through his use of multiple layers of rhythm, Jones helped free the
music from the boxlike structure imposed by barlines, paving the way for
a more modern style of jazz that flowed more freely. "Elvin brought a
form of relaxation to the music," says saxophonist Pat La Barbera, who
played with Jones frequently over the past 25 years. "When I worked with
Buddy Rich, everything had that real heavy swing feel, which I enjoy
playing with sometimes. But Elvin really loosened up the time, and when I
played with him, the music felt so open." Jones recorded extensively with Coltrane, and many consider the album
A Love Supreme to be the definitive document of the group that included
pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison. Another significant
Coltrane recording is Ascension , on which the Coltrane quartet was
augmented by several other musicians, including trumpeter Freddie
Hubbard and saxophonists Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders. The album
consists of a single, 40-minute piece, during which Elvin propels the
time in every way imaginable. Sometimes the music sounds very organized,
with fairly traditional timekeeping coming from the drumset. Other
times it sounds like a musical free-for-all, with accents exploding from
the drums at random, but still with a sense of forward momentum. At
other times, pulsating rolls push the music forward. During his years with Coltrane, Elvin--who had once been considered
difficult to play with--became an in-demand drummer who appeared on
countless jazz albums by such artists as Grant Green, Wayne Shorter, Joe
Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Larry Young, Kenny Burrell, and Rahsaan
Roland Kirk. Jones also recorded several albums under his own name
during that period. Coltrane gradually began to expand his group and added a second
drummer, Rashied Ali, late in 1965. Elvin played alongside Ali briefly,
but then left Coltrane's group early in 1966. About a year and a half
later, Coltrane died. After leaving Coltrane, Elvin spent two weeks touring Europe with
Duke Ellington's orchestra. He then spent some time in Paris subbing for
Kenny Clarke at the Blue Note club. When he returned to the States,
Elvin started his own trio with saxophonist/flutist Joe Farrell and
former Coltrane bassist Jimmy Garrison. The group's debut album, Puttin'
It Together on the Blue Note label, is regarded by many as one of
Elvin's finest recordings ever, and Elvin himself ranked it as one of
his personal favorites. A significant tune on that album is "Keiko's
Birthday March," on which Elvin's swinging, syncopated, rudimental
introduction recalls his Army band days. Over the next few years, Jones' bands included such musicians as
saxophonists Dave Liebman, Frank Foster, Steve Grossman, and George
Coleman, trumpeters Hannibal Peterson and Lew Soloff, pianists Chick
Corea and Jan Hammer, and bassists Wilbur Little and Gene Perla, He
participated in a well-publicized "drum battle" with former Cream
drummer Ginger Baker in London and appeared in the satirical western
film Zachariah . He also recorded with such artists as Art Pepper, Tommy
Flanagan, and Bennie Wallace. During those years, you could often tell how familiar the other
musicians were with Elvin by the way he ended his drum solos. Discussing
one of his 1970s Blue Note albums in which several of the musicians had
not been part of his working band, Elvin commented that even excellent
musicians do not always know how to follow a drum solo. "Sometimes one
has to use devices to bring the group back together. My device at that
particular time was a roll and a vigorous nodding of the head," he said,
laughing. In fact, Jones always adhered to the structure of a tune while he
soloed. "I hear the tune in my mind," he explained, "so I know where I
am at any point in the composition. Of course, this has to be reflected
in what the solo is stating, whether it be realistic or abstract, in
tempo or out of tempo. It doesn't matter, as long as the time frame is
accurate. Then one can pick up from any portion of the composition and
reestablish the continuity." In the early 1980s Elvin started calling his group The Jazz Machine.
For a couple of years his regular working quartet included saxophonist
Pat La Barbera, guitarist Jean Paul Bourelly, and bassist Chip Jackson.
Between 1985 and 1989, Elvin and his wife, Keiko, spent most of their
time in Japan, where they ran a restaurant and jazz club. In 1990, Elvin
made New York his home base again, and over the next several years Jazz
Machine members included saxophonists Pat La Barbera, Joshua Redman,
Sonny Fortune, and Ravi Coltrane, pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassists
Reggie Workman, George Mraz and Andy McCloud, trumpeters Wallace Roney
and Nicholas Payton, and trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis. Elvin continued
to be in-demand for recordings, and appeared on albums by Wynton
Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, John Hicks, David Murray, Sonny Sharrock, John
McLaughlin and Joe Lovano. One of his last recordings was with his
brother Hank on an album titled Autumn Leaves under the name The Great
Jazz Trio.
In 1991 Elvin was elected to the Percussive Arts Society Hall of
Fame. In 1998, Jones was one of the inaugural recipients of the American
Drummers Achievement Award presented by the Zildjian company. Elvin
remained active until a few months before his death on May 18, 2004.
30 Years Of Jazz In The Motor City
by Shaunna Morrison Machosky
From
Hank and Elvin Jones.
John Abbott
The Detroit International Jazz Festival
celebrates its 30th anniversary over the course of four days this
coming weekend. The free event, featuring more than 100 acts spread over
six stages, should bring a huge audience to the Motor City's downtown.
The festival features a wide range of artists, including jazz legends,
modern jazz masters and young, up-and-coming musicians. This
year's festival — subtitled "Keepin' up With the Joneses" — celebrates
three brothers from a special Detroit-rooted jazz family: pianist Hank
Jones and his two late brothers, drummer Elvin and trumpeter Thad Jones. Keeping
with the spirit of family, the festival will feature performances by
Hank Jones, the Brubeck Brothers (Dan and Chris), their father Dave, the Clayton Brothers (Jeff and John), the Heath Brothers (Jimmy and Tootie), John Pizzarelli and his father Bucky, and Larry Coryell with his son Julian. Listen
below to songs from the three Jones brothers, as well as two sets of
brothers scheduled to perform at the 2009 Detroit International Jazz
Festival.
Until June 2006, pianist Hank Jones and tenor saxman/flutist James Moody
had only met in the recording studio briefly. The two living legends
have collective jazz performance experience of well over a century, but
it took until the 21st to bring them together for Our Delight.
Backed by Todd Coolman on bass and Adam Nussbaum on drums, Jones and
Moody put forth a program of classic jazz tunes including "Birk's
Works," penned by Moody's teacher and mentor, Dizzy Gillespie. It sounds as if Jones and Moody have played and recorded together for many years.
Thad Jones, Elvin Jones, Frank Wess, et. al.
Potpourri
from Olio
Though trumpeter and composer Thad Jones is billed first on this lineup, Olio
is a collaborative effort. "Potpourri" isn't even one of Jones' many
compositions (it was written by pianist Mal Waldron), but it's good to
hear him on this sextet studio date that included Teddy Charles on
vibes, Frank Wess on flute and tenor sax, and his brother Elvin on drums. When Olio was recorded in 1957, Thad was working with the Count Basie
Orchestra, but also teaming up with some smaller groups. The bright
tone of Thad's trumpet mixes well with the vibes and flute on this tune;
though his sound is strong enough not to get lost in a big band, it
shines nicely with scant personnel surrounding him.
Elvin Jones
Dear John C.
from Dear John C.
This recording, Elvin Jones' second for Impulse Records under his own name, was made toward the end of his tenure with John Coltrane's
group. Fellow Detroit native Sir Roland Hanna is featured on piano for
this song, while Elvin's brother Hank also plays on the album. While
this date is led by Jones, he doesn't take over the album's overall
sound or spend long periods soloing. His distinctive style shines
through, but Jones and his bandmates also form a tight, swinging group
effort. Alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano sounds particularly good.
Many music critics regard Elvin Jones
as the most influential drummer in the history of jazz. His
revolutionary style transformed the drums as a traditional time-keeping
instrument. Employing a multilayered, rhythmic approach, he created a
dynamic interplay with soloists unprecedented by earlier drum stylists.
Early in his career, Jones performed with such jazzmen as Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis. But it wasn’t until he joined the John Coltrane Quartet in 1960 that Jones began to attract international recognition. During his six years with Coltrane’s
group, Jones contributed to some of the most celebrated recordings in
the history of modern jazz. For over four decades, his innovative
rhythmic technique has served as a catalyst for drummers who seek
greater improvisational freedom. Jones was born on September 9, 1927, in Pontiac, Michigan, not far from Detroit.
The youngest of ten children, he belonged to a musical family. Aside
from his two brilliantly talented brothers, Hank and Thad, he had two
sisters who studied piano and violin. Jones’s early interest in music preceded his later affinity for jazz. Around the age of five or six, Jones visited a fairgrounds in Pontiac
where the Ringling Brothers circus drummers performed. That experience—combined with local radio broadcasts of symphonic music that introduced him to the sound of the tympani drums—inspired
him to become a percussionist. Whether at a parade or at a football
game, Jones could be found observing a musical rhythm section with
intent fascination. Much to the frustration of his mother, he began to
practice rhythms on various objects around the family home. When he
reached age fourteen, his older sister loaned him money to purchase his
first set of drums. While in junior high school, Elvin acquired a drum method book from which he quickly learned the rudiments of percussion. “Being able to read music,” Jones explained to Herb Nolan in Down Beat, “opened up a whole world of possibilities,” since it provided techniques that could be applied to other musical forms. Jones’s high school band instructor Fred N. Weist contributed to the young drummer’s knowledge and approach to percussion. But after a year, Jones—desiring a career as a professional drummer—left
school. In 1946, he ventured to Boston in search of employment. On the
East Coast, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. For the next three years, he
performed in various military bands.
Born September 9, 1927, in Pontiac, MI; son of a Baptist deacon and lumber inspector; married; wife’s name, Keiko. Jazz drummer and recording artist; performed with Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis; member of John Coltrane Quartet, 1960-66. Appeared in film Zachariah, 1970. Military service: U.S. Army, 1946-49. Awards: Member of Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. Addresses: Record company —Enja, c/o Koch International Corp., 177 Cantiague Rock Rd., Westbury, NY 11590.
Returning to Pontiac in 1949, Jones played in groups with his
brothers, Hank and Thad. In clubs around the Detroit area, Jones shared
the stage with such local greats as guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist
Paul Chambers, and pianist Tommy Flannagan. As a member of Billy
Mitchell’s house band at the Blue Bird, Jones performed with the finest Detroit musicians as well as jazz legends like trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane. “They took me as one of their own, and I began to use my abilities,” reminisced Jones in the Detroit Free Press. “It was a great camaraderie there.” In 1955 Jones left for New York to audition for Benny Goodman’s band. He did not get the job, but within two weeks, he joined a group led by bassist Charles Mingus. “Elvin was a ‘prophet,’” declared Mingus in Mingus: A Critical Biography. “I never swung so much or rather lived so much in my life.” After touring with Mingus, Jones performed for over a year with pianist Bud Powell, a musician he considers one of the “masters” of modern jazz. In 1957 Jones toured Europe with trombonist J. J. Johnson. Throughout the late 1950s he recorded with such musicians as Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz and Detroiters like Chambers and Flannagan.
But one of Jones’s crowning achievements came when he joined John Coltrane’s
Quartet in 1960. Replacing Billy Higgins on drums, Jones helped form
one of the most formidable ensembles in modern jazz. Coltrane’s
group provided Jones with the opportunity to freely improvise within
the arrangements. Along with bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy
Tyner, Jones and Coltrane conducted a powerful exchange of musical
ideas. “The most impressive thing about working with Trane was a feeling of steady, collective learning,” recalled Jones in Arthur Taylor’s Notes and Tones: Musician to Musician Interviews. “I admired Coltrane both as a person and as a musician,” he added. “It was the best of both possible worlds.”
In 1966 Coltrane added a second drummer, Rashied Ali. Jones, who
considered this arrangement incompatible with his musical direction,
chose to leave the group. Following a brief stint in Europe with Duke Ellington’s band, Jones returned to the United States
where he founded several trios under his own name. The first of these
featured bassist Wilbur Ware and saxophonist-flutist Joe Farrel. Soon
afterward, Ware was replaced by former Coltrane member Garrison. Because
the trio did not have a guitar or piano to lay down harmonic
foundations, making the group work proved a challenge for Jones. For as
he explained in Down Beat, the drummer’s role within this format “is like a root of tree… You gotta be there, and firmly there.” Among the trio’s recordings was Puttin’ It Together.
Beginning in the 1970s, Jones organized tours to Europe, Asia, and South America
and performed at clubs, clinics, high schools, and free outdoor
concerts. His appearance on recordings with Ron Carter on bass and Tyner
on piano influenced a new generation of musicians to take up the study
of acoustic jazz, and he gained a reputation as a nurturer of new jazz
talent. “Giving someone a chance is the greatest gift that you can give to another person,” he commented in an interview with Ken Franckling in Down Beat.
Leading his own groups, Jones employed the talents of such saxophonists
as Farrel, Frank Foster, Dave Liebman, and George Coleman. By the
1990s, the line-up of his group, known as the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine,
featured saxophonists Sonny Fortune and John Coltrane’s son, Ravi—musicians who seem to share his philosophy. “The whole point is to play jazz, not any of its hybrid forms,” Jones continued in Down Beat. “You need to have a deep, spiritual feeling for the music.” Using only a standard drum kit—without the aid of any electronics—Jones
changed the face of percussion in the jazz world. He is responsible for
the innovation of a circular style of drumming, an approach that uses
broad sweeping movements across the drums. Often beginning an
arrangement by introducing a simple pattern or theme, he perpetually
builds the rhythm into a near-kinetic state. By removing the traditional
four-four
beat on the bass drum, Jones is able to create what he calls a more “constant flow of rhythm.” On the snare drum
and cymbals, he plays irregular accents that often accompany soloists
in furious dialogue. Although many modernist drummers try to imitate
Jones’s techniques, they often lack his skillful execution. For as Jones stresses, no matter how abstract the arrangement, a drummer’s main responsibility is to keep time. Elvin Jones has had a profound impact on modern music. His
improvisational approach helped lay the foundations for avant garde and
fusion jazz movements. During the 1960s he was idolized by a number of
rock musicians, including Jimi Hendrix’s
drummer, Mitch Mitchell. A unique and gifted individual, Jones has
redefined the role of the drums in jazz music. His influence extends to a
new school of jazz drummers who perform on concert stages throughout
the world. As he stated in the film documentary Different Drummer, Jones believes his exceptional approach stems from the fact that he could never “comply to the standard form.”
Impelled by this rebellious spirit, he continues to devote his life to
the pursuit of infinite rhythmic variations and creative expression.
Elvin!, 1962. Puttin’ It Together: The Elvin Jones Trio, Blue Note, 1967. In Europe, Enja, 1992. Youngblood, Enja, 1993. Yesterdays, Precision. That’s the Way I Feel Now (Tribute to Thelonious Monk), A&M. Live at the Lighthouse, Black Sun. Poly-Currents, Black Sun.
With John Coltrane
My Favorite Things, Atlantic, 1960. Ballads, Impulse, 1961. Live at Birdland, Impulse, 1961. Impressions, Impulse, 1961. A Love Supreme, Impulse, 1963. New Thing at Newport, Impulse, 1965.
With others
(With McCoy Tyner) Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner Quintet Reunion, Black Hawk, 1982. (With Pharoah Sanders) Ask the Ages, Axiom, 1992. (With Tyner) Today and Tomorrow, Impulse. (With Tyner) Trident, Milestone.
Balliet, Whitney, Ecstacyat the Onion: Thirty-one Pieces on Jazz, Bobbs-Merrill, 1971. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, edited by Barry Kernfield, MacMillan, 1988. Priestly, Brian, Mingus: A Critical Biography, Quartet Books, 1982. Taylor, Arthur, Notes and Tones: Musician to Musician Interviews, Perigee, 1982. Thomas, J. D., Chasin’the Trane: The Mystique of John Coltrane, Doubleday, 1975.
Periodicals
Detroit Free Press, November 5, 1991. Down Beat, October 2, 1969; March 2, 1972; November 8, 1973; March 1992; July 1992; September 1992; November 1992. Jazz Journal, April, 1975. Rolling Stone, February 4, 1993. Additional information for this profile was obtained from liner notes by Billy Taylor to Puttin’ It Together: The Elvin Jones Trio, Blue Note, 1967; the documentary Different Drummer: Elvin Jones, directed by Ed Gray, 1979; and a recording of a Wayne State University drum clinic, Detroit, Ml, November 15, 1991. —John Cohassey
Elvin Jones: The Story and Legacy of the Jazz Drumming Machine
July 30, 2019
Drumming Review
Elvin Jones was a highly acclaimed American drummer and jazz musician. Many industry critics regard him as the most impactful drummer in jazz history,
owing to his technique of combining a multilayered and rhythmic drum
style as well as dynamic interplay that blended well with soloist
artists. Throughout his five decades career, Jones’ innovative
rhythmic performance became a motivating factor for upcoming drummers
seeking more freedom with their instruments.
His sense of timing,
timbre, legato phrasing and dynamism emphasized the importance of drum
set in jazz music, plus the legend’s free-flowing technique also
influenced the careers of several iconic drummers in later years such as
Mitch Mitchell, Janet Weiss, John Densmore, and Christian Vander among
others.
Born
on September 9th, 1927 in Pontiac MI, Elvin was the youngest of 10 kids
from a father who was a deacon and bass singer in the Baptist church
choir. He also describes his mother as the greatest lady’ in the
globe who inspired and instilled within him attributes of
self-sufficiency, and courage which was valuable to him at the start of
his music career.
Two of his brothers, Hank the pianist and Thad the trumpeter, also went ahead to become successful in the jazz world.
Elvin
began showing interest in drums right from an early age, inspired by
circus-bands he frequently saw marching by his family’s residence in
Pontiac.
At 6 years old, Jones toured the fairgrounds center in Pontiac where he watched drummers from the Ringling Brothers circus play for the first time.
This
early experience, together with other local radio broadcasts he
listened to at home, introduced him to the timpani sound which later
encouraged the boy to pursue a drumming career.
By the time he was 13, the young boy was already practicing 8 to 10
hours per day and was carrying his drum sticks with him everywhere he
went, beating out rhythms on any flat surface he found.
Moreover, when visiting local parades and football tournaments, Elvin could often be seen immersed in musical rhythms with particular interest, and also started practicing drums on various objects he found inside the house. While in school, Elvin’s knowledge and skills as an instrumentalist
grew significantly, having been taught by the institution’s band
instructor Fred N. Weist. Nevertheless, seeking a full time drumming career, he soon left high school to try his luck in the outside world.
Military Enlisting and Career Startup
In
1946, Jones went to Boston in search of a job and landed in the U.S
Army, where he served for the next three years while still being an
active member of the military’s music band.
He also did several
tours together with other members of the Special Services show, known as
Operation Happiness, where the young drummer gradually honed his skills
and gained stage confidence playing at post social events.
After completing his military duty, Elvin returned home to Michigan in 1949 where his sister loaned him some cash to buy his first drum set.
He later partnered with his brothers, Thad and Hank, who were also jazz
music players and began performing in local Detroit clubs.
While doing some of these performances, the budding drummer met
other music greats on stage such as Paul Chambers the bassist, Tommy
Flannagan the pianist and Kenny Burrell, the guitarist. Moreover,
being part of Billy Mitchell’s home band at Blue Bird Club, Jones rubbed
shoulders with some of the greatest Detroit singers of the time and
jazz legends like John Coltrane the saxophonist and Miles Davis the
trumpeter. Remembering the experience in a recent interview with
the Detroit Free Press, Elvin says he appreciates that they took him as
one of their own’ and helped him to start using his abilities, also
noting that it was a great friendship there.
Growth in the Music Industry
After briefly performing in his native town of Detroit, Jones left for New York in 1955 for an audition to become part of the Benny Goodman band. Even
though they picked a different drummer, two weeks after the interview
he joined another group managed by bassist Charles Mingus.
The
upcoming percussionist toured with Mingus across the U.S for several
months, then later joined pianist Bud Powell for music shows that lasted
more than a year.
He describes Bud as one of the greatest all-time jazz players. In
1957, Elvin Jones drummer began touring Europe with J.J Johnson the
trombonist, amassing fans all over the world in every country he
visited. Likewise, in the late 1950s, he also recorded songs with various globally renowned artists like Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins, including fellow Detroit natives such as Flanagan and Chambers.
Joining the John Coltrane Quartet
In
1960, Elvin made one of his greatest crowning achievements in music by
enlisting into the John Coltrane Quartet band, where he replaced Billy
Higgins as the leading drummer. This band allowed him to test out
different drum arrangements, and together with McCoy Tyner the pianist
and Jimmy Garrison the bassist they managed to give powerful, dynamic
and vibrant performances across the globe. Jones notes that the
most exciting thing about working with Coltrane was the sense of
constant, progressive learning. He claims to have admired John
Coltrane’s ethics as a bandleader, and also his talent as a singer. He further added that the band’s experience gave him a taste of different music worlds. Just
like Coltrane, Elvin had impressive musical stamina and a knack for
creativity, coupled with an innate talent for prolonged solos. The
band’s cohesiveness and productivity were displayed in October 1960
when doing a studio session, where they managed to record a total of 3
albums in just one week, going by the titles of My Favorite Things,
Coltrane Plays the Blues and Coltrane’s Sound.
Unlike other bands, the Coltrane Quartet never did any rehearsals
before coming on stage. Instead, their performances rhymed naturally
even without any prior practice, and they also had a free atmosphere
where both Jones and Coltrane were free to throw in solos or duets
amidst their sessions lasting more than 30 minutes. In a previous
radio interview with Terry Gross, Elvin explains that he never knew
which songs they were playing onstage until Coltrane started performing
it, and they all rallied behind him in unison and harmony. The
group never took notice of time but instead focused on pursuing a
specific jazz idea or style until its end. Due to this, sometimes their
performances lasted up to 2 hours, but they still had the courage and
stamina to continue. In 1966, Jones left the Coltrane Quartet
after the leader decided to add new singers to the band, including
another drummer to accompany him. The budding drummer claimed that the
new musical arrangement didn’t match with the Elvin Jones style, thus
the reason why he left the band. After a short stay in Europe
performing with Duke Ellington’s music group, Elvin came back to the U.S
where he established multiple trios under his name.
One of these bands featured bassist Wilbur Ware and the flutist Joe
Farrel, but later Ware was substituted with Jimmy Garrison who was a
former member of the Coltrane Quartet. Nevertheless, since the
band didn’t have a piano or guitar for placing the harmonic setups
needed for their performances, getting the group to work proved an
uphill task for Elvin, but he somehow managed.
His Final Journey as a Drummer
Starting
in the mid-70s, Jones began touring Europe again including some parts
of Asia and South America, where he performed in multiple venues
including clubs, high schools, outdoor concerts, and clinics. He
made several appearances in songs recorded by McCoy Tyner the pianist
and Ron Carter the bassist, which inspired a whole new generation of
artists to start learning acoustic jazz. Elvin began mentoring
young talents in the industry and by the 1990s already had his own group
of jazz artists, popularly known as the Elvin-Jones Jazz Machine.
Concerning this achievement, Elvin Jones once said, “giving somebody a chance is the best gift you can ever give them.” Despite
his failing health caused by old age, Elvin continued performing live
on stage up to his mid-70s, sometimes even carrying along an oxygen tank
to play. Sadly, the jazz drummer passed away on May 18th, 2004 in Englewood, New Jersey following a heart attack. Today, Jones leaves behind a much-acclaimed jazz legacy, similar to that of Buddy Rich. Many modern drummers try to imitate, but still lack the vibe, vigor and tactical execution he had. His
impact on contemporary music is unquestionable, having laid the
foundation for experimental jazz music which fuses different instruments
and styles of play. He significantly redefined the place of drums
in jazz music, which was previously known more for trumpets and pianos,
plus influenced a new generation of jazz drummers who currently play in
concerts all over the world. Featured image courtesy of Tom Marcello on Flickr.com
Now that jazz has developed so many tributaries, its African roots are
discussed less, but in the 1950s and 1960s it could be a matter for
heated argument as to whether or not you needed to be black to play
proper jazz at all. If jazz music's celebration of intuition and the
symbiosis of the individual and the group has made musicians from Osaka
to Oslo believe that a particular corner of the world's jazz can be
uniquely theirs, that is as it should be - and probably the way the
African-American pioneers would have wished it, since they could see
their creation's global influence taking hold as early as the 1920s. But
a sense of the music's history is as important to sustain as a sense of
its present. And in jazz percussion, so often a centrepiece of the
music's unique qualities, African origins in the infamous era of the
slave-trade are impossible to underestimate. Few contemporary musicians
sustained the African qualities of jazz drumming as evocatively and
memorably as Elvin Jones, who has died aged 76.
One
of three famous jazz brothers, born in Pontiac, Michigan - the siblings
were trumpeter Thad, who died in 1986, and pianist Hank, who is still
alive - Jones was a remarkable percussionist for more than half a
century, and a revolutionary one who lit a fire for postmodern drumming
in a good part of the 1960s. His personal legend rumbled effusively on
into senior citizenship, his playing still astonishingly fiery and
inventive into his 70s. A Jones show was always a memorable event. Two things were quickly
apparent. For one, Jones appeared not to locate the focus of the beat in
any single part of the kit for long, or use the steady ride cymbal
pattern of the conventional jazz drummer or the steady, clapping
snare-drum backbeat of the traditional rock player. The rhythmic feel
would be joltingly strong, but restlessly disassembled and reassembled
all over the drums, all the time - like a constant solo, but with an
unmistakable underlying rhythm. Second, Jones would hit the drums with unnerving force - not in a
constant barrage of earsplitting volume, but in unpredictable accents
and emphases that would crack like whips. His exclamatory sock-cymbal
sound, often played at the turning point in a theme, or at the close,
appeared to be struck with a dismissive blow like a boxer's right cross,
and would be all the more arresting for its contrast with Jones's
general demeanour of happiness in his work, smiling fit to bust,
unleashing a stream of effusive - and highly rhythmic - chortles and
grunts, sometimes eyeballing his partners with baleful amiability from
the drum stool while intensifying the pressure, as if baiting them into
bigger risks. Elvin Jones began his drumming career in local groups around Pontiac
and Detroit in the early 1940s, and continued it in military bands
during army service between 1946 and 1949. After the war he went back to
Michigan to work in groups organised by his trumpeter brother Thad
among others, and in the early 1950s his career took a substantial step
forward when he replaced Art Mardigan as the drummer in bop tenorist
Billy Mitchell's band, the house ensemble at the Bluebird club in
Detroit, and a regular stopoff for touring celebrities. The exposure got
Jones noticed, and in 1956 he moved to New York. At the time Art Blakey was Jones's model. Blakey had fashioned a more
impassioned and dramatic drumming style out of the sometimes wilfully
intricate materials of bebop percussion, an instantly recognisable mix
of incandescent snare-drum rolls and slyly scattered rimshots. Jones
began as an obviously promising exponent of much the same approach, and
his talents brought him work with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Bud
Powell and saxophonist Stan Getz in the late 1950s. In 1960 came the career move that ensured Jones would become a jazz
immortal. He joined saxophonist John Coltrane's quartet at a time when
Coltrane and Miles Davis, both restless experimenters, were searching
for ways of releasing jazz from the structural rigidities of bebop's
dependence on song-form chords. Coltrane had initially begun by probing
even deeper into harmonic possibilities for improvisation, but then
swung the other way and - like Davis - pursued a stripped-down structure
with minimal chordal support and the exploration of cohabiting
sequences of scales instead. This "modal" approach loosened up the jazz ensemble, created more
space between the players, and allowed the support for a soloist to take
on a more fluid, collaborative form. Inspired by Coltrane's development
of a packed and fervent sax style - not only bursting with headlong
arpeggios but often featuring overtones and multiphonics allowing more
than one note to be sounded at a time - Jones's expansion of Art
Blakey's technique became appropriately hectic, too. At times piano,
bass and drums would resemble a single multi-branched percussion
section, or Jones's urgent, rumbling support of the leader sound like a
constant drum solo. Where Blakey had stretched the rhythmic role of bop drums by
intensifying the scattered offbeat patterns sown against the steady
hi-hat and ride-cymbal pulse, Jones was dispensing with the
"accompanist" role altogether, and envisaging a drum part as enhancing
the playing of others and being a developing musical statement itself.
He seemed to hear percussion patterns evolving over a longer span than
most drummers, so his work appeared loose and fluid, yet possessed of a
sustained and evolving coherence over even the longest pieces. This way of playing came to dominate post-1960s jazz percussion.
Innumerable young drummers struggled to copy it - or triumphantly
evolved out of it, as did the late Tony Williams. Yet Coltrane,
searching for another voice by the time the quartet had astonished the
jazz world for six years, and pursuing a dream of a music that could be
both freer and simpler, came to need a drummer who thought even more
texturally than Jones, and carried less tempo-based baggage, however
audaciously repacked. He brought in the impressionistic Rashied Ali to augment Jones, and
the arrangement quickly induced the latter to quit - an irony, since
Ali's free-improvisatory idiom was a logical evolution of Jones's
increasingly open style of playing. Coltrane died the following year
(1967), his jazz revolution still far from resolved. Perhaps Jones indicated an unease with the sometimes abrasively
dissonant music of the later Coltrane bands that preceded the Ali
signing, because his own subsequent groups - following a brief stint
with Duke Ellington for a European tour - leaned much closer toward a
relaxed and accessible hard bop. Saxophones dominated (sometimes Jones
would hire two), but if the approaches reflected Coltrane's, they were
closer to the saxophonist's soulful, preacherly manner of the early
1960s than the stormy odysseys later. After a succession of fine saxophonists - including Joe Farrell,
Frank Foster and George Coleman - Jones settled on a resourceful
saxophonist and flautist, Sonny Fortune, who remained with him into the
leader's 70s. In the later years, with Fortune often displaying a
furious and increasingly late Coltrane-like boldness, Jones's groups
moved back to something like the ferocity and atonalism that had
originally driven him from the quartet, an indication of how much that
ensemble had eventually reshaped mainstream jazz taste. Few drummers had such a profound sense of the role of the drums in an
ensemble, or represented such a span of the African-American percussion
tradition - from African drum-choir origins, to contradictory,
crossed-line urban American urgency, and way beyond. Jones's Japanese-born wife Keiko, who survives him together with a
son and a daughter, was a constant companion to her husband on concerts
and tours, taking care of the logistics of road-life and contributing
compositions to his repertoire as well. · Elvin (Ray) Jones, drummer, born September 9 1927; died May 18 2004
Maser percussionist Elvin
Jones spent ten days in his old stamping grounds last monfh, bringing
his current quartet (Pat LaBarber. saxophones; Ryo Kawasaki, guttar;
David Wültams, hass) into Baker's Keyboard Lounge fot a series of
swinging, stomping soirees. A native oj ' Pontiae. Michigan. Elvin was
active on tie legendary Detroit bebop scène from late 1946 until he Ie
ft in 1955 to take up residence in New York City, where he established
lus international reputation through featured work with Miles Davis,
Charles Mingus, Bud Powvll, J.J. Johnson, Sonhy Rollins, and final 'ly
as a nember of the ground-hreaking John Coltnine Qitartet (1960-65). A
leader of lus own hands for more titan ten years now, Elvin reeently
sign
SUN: What did you firsi start playing around Detroit?
ELVIN: Well, 1
went to school in Pontiac, where I carne up, and when ] got out of the
Army, in 1946, t carne back and started working amund Detroit. Thai
was when I ■ started meeting most of the guys living Detroit: Billy
Mitchell, Boo Boo Turner, Abe Woodley. Beans Richardson, Art Mardigan,
all those cais -Phil Hill. A lot of those guys are dead now. Boo Boo is
dead, Phil Hill. 1 think he's dead too. My first real gig was with Phil
Hill at the C'rystal Bar, on Grand River near where the hockey stadium
is. That was the place where I first started to get into the scène here.
Art Mardigan was playing drums with Phil's band, and when he left the
group I feil right into it. So that sort of got me acquainted with what
we considered to be the real heavyweights in Detroit. You know, these cats,
Cuban Pete was playing congas, and Wardell Gray worked there a lot. Then
Billy Mitchell was working at the Bluebird Inn, over on the west side,
and Art Mardigan had that gig too. So when Art went on the road with
somebody or other, I joined Billy's band, and I stayed with them for
three years at the Bluebird, like between 1950 and 1953. SUN: Who else
was working in that band?
ELVIN: Well, it was Billy Mitchell's gig, and
he had Barry Harris br Terry Pollard on piano, Beans Richardson on bass,
Frank Foster (tenor) would play that gig a lot, and then my brother
Thad (Cornet) carne in and stayed a couple of years with that band. But
before that the Bluebird would like bring in different artists to play
with the house band- let me see, Miles Davis came there and stayed for
about six months, and all kinds of other people. Wardell Gray, of
course, and Sonny Stitt, Ben Webster, Bird would come through and work
with our group backing them. At least once or twice a year, there'd be
featured artists. They'd work with the band for maybe a month, you know,
which was very good, because they suddenly gave the Detroit musicians
of that time quite a perspective on what was happening in the music
world away from Detroit. Nobody could be more knowledgeable about the
true aspects of music than some of the visiting artists who came to work
there. It was not only a very prestigious position to be in, but it was
also one of the most educational experiences a young musician could
have. SUN: Weren't there a lot of people off of that set go ing out and
joining the Basie band at that time?
ELVIN: I know Frank Foster was
about the last one to go-Al Grey, Ernie Wilkins ed witli Vanguanl
Records af ter a long association with Blue Sote and a pair of LPsfor
the artist-owned PM label. Elvin was interviewed one afternoon in late
February by the Sun 's Reggie Carter and John Sinclair, who asked htm to
reeall lüs cays in the Motor C 'iy 's hot early 50 's jazz scène for
our readers who were nol fortúnate eiwush to have been there. Wliat
follows. then, is E hin 's account of the glorieus days when top jazz
musicians cante pouring out of Detroit to make their mark on the uit i
mal and international imisic scène - a flooü of talent unequalea in the
jazz scène ever sincc. But te! 's lei F.lvin teil it like it was . . .
and some üther guys were already witli Basie, and tlien Thad (Jones) and
Billy Mitchell went and joined. noi rtght Iogether,but about a month
apart, and then Frank Foster. It was something back then, when they were
telling Basie about all the musicians in troit- a lot of musicians went
and joined Basic after that. There was one time in there when Basie ca
me into town, lie was looking lor a drummer my brbther Thad wav working
witli Basie then. and N king tbr me dwing I the lïitormissioiis so I
could come and si! in with them. ft was at the Graystone Ballroom, on
Woodward, and I was working the date with the Miles Davis Quintet. Miles
was staving in Detroit then, he was like the "'artist in residence'"
for a while. and that particular group was with Miles, Yusef La teel' on
tenor, Barry Harris, Beans Richardson and myself. Anyway.Thad came
looking for me, but 1 was nowhere to be found on the intermissions.
(Laughter.) For obvious reasons, I mean 1 had to have my rest, you know?
But there were some pretty hip scènes around Detroit at that time. I
think it was really very cozy. I really loved that- the whole atmosphere
out there was like one huge music conservatory. I mean it was really a
real atmosphere of learning. That's what I think is so great about
Detroit, you know- not only were the musicians all very into it, but so
was the audience as well. Some of the audience knew as much about the
music as the performers, and I don't think anybody was ever uninformed
about the kind of music that was being played, about jazz, about
creative forms- everybody was hip to it. I think like the average person
in a club at that time could teil you more about the music being
played, or as much about it, as the musicians on the stand. That's how
well-informed the audience was, and it gave a great incentive to the
musicians to excell, because nobody wanted to be called "jive," you
know? like, "get that turkey off the stage!" (Laughter.) You know,
nobody wanted to get that laid on him. So everybody did their best all
the time, because they knew they were playing to a highly informed
audience at all times. It made a great difference, as opposed to other
cities, you know, where community involvemeit wasn't all that great. I
think the scène here was quite unique. Part of it was the abundance of
places to liear and play music, too. Most of the clubs would have a band
stand, and there would be all kinds of music being played in all kinds
of different little places. The Crystal and the Bluebird, of course, and
there was the Parrot Lounge, over on the east side, that was one of the
nicer places. And there was that place where Maurice King always
worked, over there on John R - yeah, the Flame Showbar, that was always
like a first-class gig, you know.
And continuad on page 14 Elvin Jones continues on page 9
There were places all up and down Hastings
Street, and Brush, and John K. most of which liad live bands in thére,
and on the west side too. So I think. in tliat alone, there 's never
been a town like that before or since. I certainly don't see it now. nol
only heie but all over the country. Uut when I was liere Heft in 1955
you could go around fat months and nol go to the same club twice, seeing
different groups all the time. And you could always see somebody around
town that was taking care of business.
SUN: Cass Tech also seemed to bc
a hotbed for young musicians at that time.
ELVIN: Well. for one thing,
that was an awfully good school, Cass Tech, as far as from a high school
level, I don"t think there was anything like that in the country -not
only for music, but for other technical studies as well. So that was a
big factor, certainly, and a lot of young musicians came out of Cass
Tech Paul Chambers, Doug Watkins, Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams. all those
Louis Hayes, Curtís Fuller. But 1 just think that there was a general
acceptance among the population, that people were aware, musically
minded, and all that. Plus there were always some swinging sounds
around-you could always hear some sounds on the radio, there was lots of
live music of all kinds, and too, I don't think televisión was so
popular by then that it kept people at home. People would go out to have
a drink or take their lady friends out on the weekends, or during the
week, or whatever, as opposed to sitting at home around a televisión
set. This had a lot to do with it, and televisión, of course, had a lot
to do with breaking it all up, too.
SUN: Wherc did you stay when you
were in Detroit during that period?
ELVIN: One time I stayed on the east
side, right near Wayne University, just off of Woodward- I forget the
name of the street. And I stayed at Billy Mitchell's mother's house,
just off Third Avenue, and I stayed over on Pingree, I had an apartment
over there. I stayed at several locations. I had a pretty good idea of
how the city was built, you know. See, here's the thing- when I worked
here in Detroit, I also had a day job out in Pontiac. I was a dothes
presser in a dry deaners, you know, during the day, so I was able to
choose the gigs I wanted to work rather than having to take just any old
gig in order to pay my rent, you know. That way I could just play the
kind of music I wanted to play, and I kept that day gig all the time I
was here. SUN: You were involved in the World Stage too, weren 't you?
ELVIN: Right. 1 would always play in the concerts that were held there,
and for a long time I was also working as the production manager for the
theatre group at the Stage, too.
SUN : Wasn 't that a musicians '
cooperative?
ELVIN: Yeah, it was actually Kenny Burrell, and the
McKinney brothers(Harold, Earl, Bernard, Ray), and a lot of other people
who were involved in the scène, and we would put on concerts at the
World Stage on a regular basis. The driving force behind the World Stage
was a fellow named Fred Barnett. His father had the Barnett Trucking
Company, and Fred was very interested in theatre and other art forms. He
had this building at Woodward and Davison, with this huge top floor-
like a loft- and they were turning it into a theatre. They would sponsor
the concerts, which were organized and publicized by the musieians. I
dön't ihink any af tlieni ever made a lot of money, but it certainly was
a place to go, and it was a place lor musieians to get stage experience
in addition to working in clubs, so it helped prepare a lot of us to go
out and work concerts and all kinds of gigs. Plus it gave people like
Yusef Lateef a place to form the nucleus of his group, with Frank Gant,
Curtis Fuller and the rest. All the younger kids were going up there to
learn how to play. From a community point of view, it was a
tremendousasset and atremendous learning experience for everyone invol
ved. Then there was the West End Hotel, over in Delray , where we would
go for sessions after everybody got done playing their gigs. I thought
that was a great experience -everyone would finish their gigs on the
weekends and then we would converge on Delray and have jam sessions all
night. 1 was one of the nucleus of the group, so I would take my drums
out there and set up, and anybody who wanted to sit in, of course, was
perfectly welcome. But I was the one getting the five bucks for the gig.
(Laughter.)
SUN : Who all would bc on that particular set?
ELVIN: Well,
Kenny Burrell set it up-he later became an in-law of Joe Blair and his
wife, who ran the West End-and he had the gig, and later Barry Marris
had it for a while. All I know is that they'd cali me, and I would be
the first one to get there, with my drums, and all the cats would come
through there, including other musieians who would be appearing in town -
everybody, you know? As far as the cats from around here, Yusef, Barry,
Terry Pollard, Beans, Billy Mitchell, too many to mention, really.
Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams a few times- it was such a friendly
fraternity of people, you know, from all parts of town, and it went
beyond the sessions too. l'd find myself at different times at Doug
Watkins' house, or at Paul Chambers' place- it was always good and
friendly among the guys on the set, quite a friendly atmosphere and none
of these old petty jealousies that sometimes exist among musieians.
Everybody was very brotherly, you know. It was really a beautiful scène,
and it's a shame nothing like that exists any more.
Elvin Jones, 76; Jazz Drummer Worked With John Coltrane
by Jon Thurber
May 20, 2004
Los Angeles Times
Elvin
Jones, the jazz drummer whose dynamic sound was a vital component to
John Coltrane’s seminal quartet in the 1960s, has died. He was 76. Jones
died Tuesday of heart failure at a hospital in Englewood, N.J.,
according to his wife, Keiko. She said he had been in failing health for
some time. From the 1960s on, Jones was a key force in the
evolution of jazz drumming with a style that critics viewed as sometimes
ferocious, often subtle and always original. Many critics believed
Jones was to his generation what Gene Krupa was to the swing era. “He
founded an entire new school of drumming marked by unprecedented
freedom, polyrhythmic ingenuity and ferocity,” critic Leonard Feather
wrote in 1976.
Jones created what Feather called “a circle of sound.”
“This
approach,” Feather noted, “freed the drummer from the role of the
accompanist and allowed him to participate more fully in collective
improvisation and the overall sound of the ensemble while still
supporting individual soloists.”
Jones’ style had the overall
impact of transforming the drums from a traditional time-keeping
instrument and allowed a dynamic interplay with soloists unprecedented
by earlier drum stylists.
The youngest of 10 children, Jones was
born in Pontiac, Mich. Two of his brothers -- Thad, a cornetist,
composer and arranger, and Hank, a pianist -- became influential jazz
performers in their own right.
As a child, Jones liked to carry the bass drum in the school marching
band and quickly learned to read music while becoming interested in
jazz.
Jones enlisted in the Army just after World War II and
traveled the country as part of a special services unit. After his
discharge, he joined his musical brothers in Detroit where they played
in saxophonist Billy Mitchell’s band, among others.
Detroit was
filled with gifted jazz musicians in those days, including guitarist
Kenny Burrell, singer Carmen McRae and pianist Tommy Flanagan, and Jones
often played with them as the house drummer at the Bluebird Inn. He
built a name for himself as one of the leading drummers in Detroit and
would attract the attention of visiting giants such as trumpeter Miles
Davis and saxophonist Charlie Parker.
Jones moved to New York City
in the mid-1950s for an audition with the Benny Goodman orchestra,
which included his brother Hank Jones on piano. He didn’t get that job
but he found a steady gig with bassist Charles Mingus. After touring
with Mingus, Jones performed with pianist Bud Powell and trombonist J.J.
Johnson, as well as saxophonists Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz.
But
he came into his own and into the broader jazz consciousness in the
1960s when he joined Coltrane’s quartet, which included pianist McCoy
Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison.
Critic Nat Hentoff noted that Jones had considerable influence on Coltrane’s work and vice versa.
“Jones
had such stamina,” Hentoff told The Times on Wednesday. “Coltrane’s
improvisations could go on for most of an hour, and Elvin would be right
there with him. They spurred each other and never stopped searching.”
Together, critics said, they redefined the possibilities of the small jazz ensemble.
“The level of saxophone/percussion engagement that Coltrane and Jones
realized in extended performances such as ‘My Favorite Things,’
‘Chasin’ the Trane,’ ‘Impressions’ and ‘AfroBlue’ intimated chaos yet
retained clear connection to structure and tempo,” critic Bob Blumenthal
wrote in DownBeat magazine some years ago.
“At the same time,”
Blumenthal wrote, “more introspective performances such as the album
‘John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman’ revealed Jones’ ability to sustain
his complex polyrhythms at more restrained dynamic levels.” For Jones’ part, working with Coltrane was a revelation. “When
I was playing with Coltrane, I heard purity in his tone, in his
discipline for study. That’s what he was projecting. I think it affected
me ... ,” Jones once told an interviewer for DownBeat. “The most impressive thing about working with ‘Trane was a feeling of steady, collective learning,” he later said. But
in 1966, Jones left Coltrane’s group after Coltrane decided to add a
second drummer, a decision Jones felt was inconsistent with his own
musical direction. Coltrane died the next year. Jones went to
Europe, played with Duke Ellington’s band for a couple of weeks and
returned to the United States. Over the next four decades, he formed and
led several outstanding groups under his own name. His band eventually
became known as the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. Jones was known in
the jazz world for his generosity of spirit and as a nurturer of new
talent. By the early 1990s, his group had included such up-and-coming
stars as saxophonist Joshua Redman, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and
trombonist and arranger Delfeayo Marsalis. It also included Coltrane’s
son, Ravi. Over the years, Jones dismissed the pyrotechnics of some drummers,
once telling Whitney Balliett of the New Yorker magazine: “I never
learned any tricks, anything flashy like juggling sticks or throwing
them in the air. That kind of thing stops me inside. After all, Artur
Rubenstein doesn’t play piano runs with his chin.” “His functional
equipment,” Feather once noted, “was far less elaborate than many
drummers who may believe that the more cymbals, bass drums and other
equipment one has, the easier it is to create ideas.”
“His complexity stems from a lightning mind, with hands and feet to match.”
In addition to his wife, Jones’ survivors include his brother, Hank. Thad Jones died in 1986.
Elvin Jones for me is the secret ingredient. Have you ever
discovered the secret ingredient in your food? You go along eating stuff
and there are many things you like, and then one day you discover that a
particular ingredient (be it garlic or ginger or high fructose corn
syrup) is present in a disproportionate amount of the stuff you like? Me
either, but I have had that experience in music. The first Coltrane to
really knock me out . . . and the first Wayne Shorter . . . and the
first James Williams . . . oh man, Larry Young . . . wow, Art Pepper
didn’t just play “cool jazz” . . . and on and on. It was kind of eerie
to trace back how much of this great music was great in large part
because of Elvin’s drumming. I’m always hesitant to offer definitive
“favorites” for most anything (Top 10 lists are better because I can
hedge my bets and don’t have to pick just one) but Elvin is my favorite
drummer, period. Heck, I named my cat after him.
2 bad cats: can you see the resemblance?There is some room for interpretation, of course, as to what
constitutes a top “Elvin Jones Track.” I could focus on his drumming as a
sideman or his own records or great historical moments of which he was a
part. The fact is that there are so many great moments in his
discography that I’ll be drawing from all of this and still leaving out
many profound musical moments that he provided us. Likewise, I’m going
to limit myself to two Coltrane tracks on the list of 10, as that
partnership could easily produce a list of its own (and worry not,
‘Trane will get his own list before long). The number of great and
historically significant tracks that I have to omit is large, so
remember these are totally subjective favorites. 1) “Pursuance” (from A Love Supreme by John Coltrane)
I wanted so badly to cheat and include the whole album, as it
encapsulates so much of Elvin’s contributions to the Impulse-era
Coltrane “classic quartet.” This track begins with a drum solo for which
I am at a loss for adjectives (Elvin-esque is a pretty lame solution to
that, but it’s the best I can come up with). And then the time comes in
and the propulsion and groove just don’t quit. And the intensity goes
up and up and up and up into the stratosphere and then up some more and
up . . . whew! As much credit as Coltrane justifiably gets for the
heights of intensity his music reached, there is no question in anyone’s
mind (as there wasn’t in his own mind) that Elvin’s drumming was an
absolutely necessary element.
2) “Witch Hunt” (from Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter)
Elvin was an essential contributor to some of Wayne’s most essential
music (also providing a fascinating contrast to Tony Williams, Wayne’s
cohort in the Miles Davis Quintet), and I could have just as easily
picked Juju or even Night Dreamer to represent that.
Ron Carter and Elvin also had an amazing hook-up, which also could’ve
been represented by many albums, perhaps most notably McCoy Tyner
records like The Real McCoy and Trident. I chose this
track in part because the McCoy/Elvin partnership is already
well-represented here on the Coltrane tracks and Elvin’s hook-up with
Herbie Hancock on Speak No Evil is brilliant and makes one
wonder why they collaborated so seldom. I also chose it because it is
simply put one of the most grooving, creative and interactive cuts in
modern jazz history and totally rocked my world back in 1991 (and has
done so repeatedly since).
3) “Shiny Stockings” (from Heavy Sounds)
Another aspect of Elvin’s playing that gets comparatively little
attention is his use of brushes. This trio track with bassist Richard
Davis and tenor saxophonist Frank Foster (both essential collaborators
of Elvin’s) demonstrates how essential his brushwork was. It’s hard to
play with this kind of power on brushes and it’s similarly hard to
create this much fullness with neither a chordal instrument nor the
reverberation of sticks on cymbals. But Elvin does all of this
effortlessly while helping to transform Foster’s tune, which had been
most associated with the Count Basie band’s tightly arranged
large-ensemble rendition.
4) “As We Used To Sing” (from Ask the Ages by Sonny Sharrock)
First of all, there is no joy quite like the rhythmic stew cooked up
by Elvin playing in waltz time. Second of all, this whole (vastly
underrated) record is full of vintage Elvin, years past the point when
he was in his purported “prime” as an artist. His fiery interactions
with Sharrock on guitar and old cohort Pharaoh Sanders on saxophone
would alone be worth the price of the record, but the rest of it is
burning as well.
5) “Night Has A Thousand Eyes” (from Coltrane’s Sound by John Coltrane)
What the heck do you call the groove that Elvin plays on the
quasi-Latin section of this tune (more or less replicated a few years
later when he and McCoy Tyner played on Wayne Shorter’s “Yes or No” from
the Juju album)? Whatever it is, it makes me smile giddily
every time I hear it. And the swing part is awesome too. And even though
they go back and forth between these grooves over and over throughout
the tune, it’s dramatic and exciting every time. Oh yeah, and that
saxophone player is pretty good too.
6) “Crisis” (from Ready for Freddie by Freddie Hubbard)
One of my Rutgers professors, William Fielder (a.k.a. “Prof”) used to
talk about differences in rhythm section conceptions. Elvin’s playing
to him was emblematic of forward motion, where the individual beat
operates in the service of the overall momentum of the phrase. As much
as prof respected the bassists Jimmy Garrison and Reggie Workman, he
felt that the pinnacle of this conception could be heard in the
collaborations between Elvin and bassist Art Davis on this record and on
McCoy Tyner’s Inception. We also get more Wayne and Elvin, more McCoy
and Elvin and a great opportunity to compare Elvin’s approach to this
song to that of Art Blakey, who recorded another classic version (also
with Freddie and Wayne) less than 2 months after this session.
7) “Lullaby of the Leaves” (from Magical Trio 2 by James Williams)
I’ve mentioned this album on several different Top 10 lists, and it’s
bordering on criminal that it’s out of print. Aside from my personal
affection for the music on this album (which is reason enough to include
it here), I’m also including it to show Elvin’s ability to play a
bluesy, hard-swinging groove like nobody’s business. Above I mentioned
Prof Fielder and his citation of Elvin as representing the pinnacle of
rhythmic forward motion. Well Ray Brown, the bassist on this track, was
one of Prof’s primary examples of the opposite conception, one in which
every beat is driven home with authority and the longer phrases get
comparatively less attention. As such, you’d think this collaboration
(which had previously occurred in a trio with Cedar Walton and on
several Phineas Newborn, Jr. sessions) wouldn’t work. But throughout the
record, they find incredible middle ground. And particularly on this
track, the pocket is just so deep and swinging as to render that sort of
analysis pretty much irrelevant (sorry Prof) – perhaps the blues, when
in the hands of artists like this, can simply be such a unifying force
that it can trump any comparatively more subtle musical differences. I
don’t know, but if your booty remains still when listening to this, I
hope you have a note of explanation from your doctor.
8) “Thorn of a White Rose” (from Elvin Jones Is On the Mountain)
Have you ever wondered what Elvin would have sounded like as a
rocker? The most obvious answers to this query can be found in the music
of some of the drummers who incorporated his energy and polyrhythmic
grooves in the late 1960s such as Ginger Baker (of Cream), Keith Moon
(of the Who) and Mitch Mitchell (of the Jimi Hendrix Experience). But
you can also get some insight from performances like this electric trio
track with Gene Perla and Jan Hammer. Based on this evidence, I still
wonder how Elvin would have fit in with a bona fide rock mega-band,
given the contradiction between the elasticity of his beat and the
rigidity of a typical rock song (which I suppose is only relevant when I
think about him playing “Hey Jude” or “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”). In this
context, though, boy does he rock. The groove is hard and deep, as
virtually all of his grooves were.
9) “Sweet Mama” (from Elvin Jones Live at the Lighthouse)
It is interesting, though not surprising, that so much of Elvin’s
career as a bandleader was defined by his hiring a series of powerful
tenor saxophonists. Some of them were directly and clearly coming out of
the vocabulary established by Elvin’s former boss, John Coltrane (Joe
Farrell, Pat LaBarbera, Steve Grossman, Dave Liebman) and some were
older and already had well-formed conceptions coming in (Frank Foster,
Frank Wess, George Coleman). Two of the most important post-Coltrane
tenorists to work in Elvin’s band were Grossman and Liebman, both
represented on this fiery record, considered by many to epitomize Elvin
as a bandleader. Props also to bassist Gene Perla, who also composed
this catchy tune (which was re-done by Elvin a few years later featuring
Grossman, LaBarbera and Foster, as well as some gnarly work by bassist
David Williams and guitarist Ryo Kawasaki).
10) “You Are Too Beautiful” (from Elvin!)
Because of his remarkable fire, Elvin’s ability to play with
sensitivity often gets short shrift. There are lots of great examples of
this, of course, but I find that his elegant side was brought out
particularly well when he collaborated with his brothers Thad and Hank,
who are the featured soloists on this ballad. I could write pages on the
sheer awesomeness of having three of this genre’s heaviest contributors
as brothers, but I’ll simply focus on encouraging you to check out this
record! There’s a lot more where this came from in the sense of Elvin’s
collaborations with Thad and/or Hank (with Hank’s Thad-tribute Upon
Reflection album warranting special mention). Honorable Mentions (so I don’t toss and turn at night for failing to at least mention certain other facets of his legacy):
* Elvin with his fellow Detroiters (aside from the other Jones Brothers): “All of You” (from Kenny Burrell by Kenny Burrell) with Burrell, Tommy Flanagan and Doug Watkins, or “I’ll Remember April” (from Into Something by
Yusef Lateef) with Yusef and Barry Harris (and that doesn’t even
address stuff with Curtis Fuller, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, Billy
Mitchell, etc.)
* “Broad Way Blues” (from New York Is Now by Ornette Coleman): Elvin, Jimmy Garrison, Dewey Redman and Ornette, an underrated period in the careers of all of these men.
* “Shaw” (from African Exchange Student by Kenny Garrett):
Elvin contributing to the music of those who grew up inspired by his
music, like Garrett and pianist Mulgrew Miller.
* Elvin with Joe Henderson: “Punjab” (from In & Out by Joe Henderson) or “Inner Urge” or “Isotope” from Inner Urge or anything from McCoy Tyner’s The Real McCoy or Larry Young’s Unity. . .
* “A Night In Tunisia” (from A Night at the Village Vanguard by Sonny Rollins) debatably the most essential pre-Coltrane Elvin. And who needs piano?
* “Caravan” (from Complete Village Vanguard Sessions by Art
Pepper): Elvin adding fire to the music of someone associated with “cool
jazz” (other examples of this include Stan Getz and Tony Bennett)
And now I must stop before this gets ridiculous . . .
Elvin Jones: Career and life of pushing the music forward
by Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Just a few weeks ago, the news began
flashing across computer screens around the world: The dying jazz
drummer Elvin Jones was playing perhaps his last gig at Yoshi's, the
venerable club in Oakland, Calif.
Gaunt, frail and barely able to
hold a pair of sticks, Jones nevertheless was determined to conduct his
final days the way he had spent the previous six decades: Playing the
drums before a public that came to draw comfort and inspiration from a
fiercely original art. "It was a very emotional event, that's for sure," recalls Brook Weisner, jazz manager at Yoshi's, where Jones played last month.
"It was tough. People were unnerved to see him like that. . . . Most of the audience didn't know how ill he was."
The
physical decline of Jones -- who died Tuesday of heart failure in New
Jersey, at age 76 -- set off a chain reaction of e-mails from clubgoers
to their jazz friends around the world. The messages described harrowing
but heroic nights at Yoshi's, with a weakened musician struggling to
get onstage, to keep the music pulsing forward, to express himself in
rhythm and gesture, as he had done since he was a teenager growing up
outside Detroit.Ovations were intense, says Weisner, tears flowed and prayers were uttered nightly.
Yet
Jones' determination to keep playing despite his deteriorating health
helped explain why the man was able to transform the art of jazz
drumming in accordance with his own, self-styled aesthetic. For despite
facing ridicule from critics and other naysayers in the 1950s and '60s,
when Jones emerged as a defining force in jazz, he never relented in his
quest to make music his way, without compromise.
Setting the standard
Today,
Jones' free-flowing, oft-thundering approach to the drum set virtually
has become the standard against which drummers in jazz and other musical
idioms are measured. But his divergence from a fixed rhythmic backbeat,
his flair for keeping several meters afloat at once and his ability to
produce great eruptions of sound and color were considered radical when
he was young. Jones, however, would not yield to those who
considered his work -- especially his now-fabled contributions to John
Coltrane's groundbreaking quartet of 1960-66 -- too brash, aggressive
and unorthodox.
"I simply never really bought the old concepts of what a drummer should be," Jones explained in a Tribune interview in 1992.
"I
just didn't think like that. I'd think as if I were a conductor or a
pianist, or at least an extension from the percussion instrument."
That revolutionary approach did more than just elevate
the drummer beyond the role of timekeeper, and it went light years
beyond the bebop-era rhythmic breakthroughs of drum legends Max Roach
and Kenny Clarke. For if they proved that the drummer could sabotage the
beat with the unexpected "bombs" and other explosive syncopations,
Jones became the first great abstract expressionist of the drum set.
Like a painter rebelling against the conventions of line and form, Jones
early on established that the drummer could transcend the tyranny of
the four-beat measure and the subservient role of rhythmic accompanist.
In
so doing, he not only coaxed the art form forward but re-established
the link between modern drumming and its ancient African counterpart,
reminding listeners of the primary role the drums played in African
antiquity and reclaiming that position for the instrument in
contemporary music.
The effect on jazz was galvanic.
"Elvin changed everything," says Paul Wertico, a protean Chicago drummer whose work has built on Jones' achievements.
"He
brought in that whole polyrhythmic approach," adds Wertico, referring
to Jones' penchant for riffing on several rhythmic patterns at once.
"Just
the way he approached time was totally different. It was as if Elvin
was living in a different time zone than everyone else does."
Jones'
journey to this point, however, was not easy. One of 10 siblings
growing up during the Depression in Pontiac, Mich., he acknowledged that
money was scarce, his father's pay as a lumber inspector at General
Motors barely covering the necessities.
Yet this remarkable family
produced three of the most significant jazz musicians of the post-World
War II era: the elegant pianist Hank Jones, the innovative trumpeter-arranger Thad Jones (who died in 1986) and the great drummer.
Detroit
in the 1940s ranked among America's bona fide jazz capitals, and Jones
took full advantage of its robust scene. Having taught himself to play
drums by practicing upward of 10 hours a day from age 13, he soon was
playing behind such visiting stars as Charlie Parker,
Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as dozens of local luminaries.
After a hitch in the Army in the late 1940s, Jones came to New York at
the invitation of Benny Goodman. And though his audition for Goodman
proved disastrous -- his music already ranged far beyond the strictures
of swing-era rhythm -- his migration east enabled him to connect with
likeminded innovators such as bassist-bandleader Charles Mingus and
Davis, in the 1950s.
The transforming event in Jones' life and
art, however, was his tenure in Coltrane's seminal ensemble of the
1960s. With the young McCoy Tyner producing astonishing bursts of
dissonance and rhythmic energy on piano, Jimmy Garrison driving
relentlessly forward on bass and Coltrane unleashing firestorms on tenor
and soprano saxophones, Jones had found a home for his own iconoclastic
ideas on the drummer's art.
"With John I could do things that I had only vaguely dreamed of before," said Jones, in the Tribune interview.
Coltrane,
he added, "gave us all courage. . . . I had never seen anyone in my
life that could articulate on an instrument as well and as effortlessly
as John did. And the way he accomplished that effortlessness was his
almost religious practice habits," added Jones, referring to Coltrane's
tendency to rehearse until his lips bled.
In Coltrane's quartet,
Jones produced his indelible contributions to such revered albums as "A
Love Supreme" and "My Favorite Things."
A recording career
After
Jones left Coltrane -- in 1966, the year before Coltrane's death --
Jones proceeded to record and perform copiously, though even the best
recordings could not fully capture the dynamic range, visceral
excitement and sense of abandon that defined his live work.
Watch legendary jazz drummer Elvin Jones, known for his playing with the
John Coltrane Quartet and, of course, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine,
construct a killer post-bop beat, c. 1979. (Thanks,Jordan Kurland!)
by Stewart Hoffman 24 June 2000 The National Post It has been about 40 years since Elvin Jones, the dynamo behind the
legendary John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1966, redefined the art of
jazz drumming.
Jones is a tall man, and in those days, mounted behind his undersized drums, he could seem a giant. Though he could perform with the lightest touch and utmost restraint, he more often stunned audiences through the sheer power of his playing and the unheard-of complexity of his rhythms. The hurricane-like turbulence he whipped up on the instrument may have fallen short of lifting the roofs off buildings, but he regularly propelled musicians’ performances into the stratosphere. And there’s little doubt that the effect will be much different when
he brings the current edition of his Jazz Machine to the Toronto Star
Stage at Nathan Phillips Square next Wednesday. These days, though,
Jones takes pride in sharing the stage with two winners of the
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition: pianist Eric Lewis won
last year, and trumpeter Darren Barrett – who was raised in Toronto and
attended the Humber College jazz programme – took top honours in ’97. It’s younger musicians like these, says Jones in a recent interview,
who bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the band. But at 72-years-old,
he’s surprisingly modest when discussing the relative youth of his band
members. “They’re very talented,” he says, adding “I’m fortunate that
they come to me.” Perhaps. But it goes without saying that any jazz
musician, at any age, would give their eyetooth to share the bandstand
with Jones. He’s equally self-effacing when describing his collaboration with
Coltrane. They met when Jones moved from Detroit to New York in 1956. “We were friends,” says Jones. “I used to walk over every night and
listen to him play when he was working with Thelonious Monk at a club
called the Five Spot in New York. We had similar backgrounds.” Like Coltrane, Elvin Jones’ mother sang and played piano in the local
church choir, and gospel music filled the home. His father was the
church deacon. It’s no surprise that the spiritual side of music is
something that both musicians shared. “Spirituality,” says Jones, “is
one of the ingredients that made John Coltrane’s music so powerful.
That’s where the real power of his music came from. I could hear it in
his playing, so I’m sure he could hear it in mine.” But in 1966, when Coltrane added a second drummer to the band, Jones
decided to leave. In the ’80s, when jazz in North America suffered a
decade in the doldrums, Jones worked mostly in Europe, South America and
Japan. But by the ’90s, the North American jazz renaissance had begun
and, says Jones, “the momentum is still gathering.” He is philosophical about his ability to keep up. “I know I’m not 22,” he says. “I feel it sometimes.” But not much. And slowing down is not in the cards. “My age just
gives me a greater capacity to understand and interpret.” About
twenty-five years ago, he heard the great cellist, Pablo Casals. “He was
94-years old, and left me breathless. Age can be debilitating, but it
can also be a powerful motivating force for whatever one has to do. If
Casals can last 94 years, I think I should have a couple more in me.”
** FILE ** Elvin
Ray Jones is shown in an Oct. 26, 1997, file photo while performing at
the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Jones, a renowned jazz drummer and
member of John Coltrane's quartet who also played alongside Duke
Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, died Tuesday, May 18, 2004.
He was 76. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File) OCT. 26, 1997 FILE PHOTO
Elvin Jones, whose explosive drumming powered the John Coltrane Quartet,
the most influential and controversial jazz ensemble of the 1960s, died
Tuesday in New York. He was 76 and lived in Manhattan and Nagasaki,
Japan. Mr. Jones continued to perform until a few weeks ago, often taking an oxygen tank onto the bandstand. Mr. Jones was a fixture of the Coltrane group from late
1960 to early 1966 and for more than three decades the leader of several
noteworthy groups of his own. He was the first great post-bebop percussionist. Building on the innovations of the jazz modernists Kenny Clarke and Max Roach,
who liberated the drum kit from a purely time-keeping function in the
1940s, he paved the way for a later generation of drummers who dispensed
with a steady rhythmic pulse altogether in the interest of greater
improvisational freedom. But he never lost that pulse: The beat was
always palpable when he played, even as he embellished it with layer
upon layer of interlocking polyrhythms. The critic and historian Leonard Feather
explained Mr. Jones' significance this way: "His main achievement was
the creation of what might be called a circle of sound, a continuum in
which no beat of the bar was necessarily indicated by any specific
accent, yet the overall feeling became a tremendously dynamic and
rhythmically important part of the whole group." But if the self-taught musician had a profound influence
on other drummers, not many of them directly emulated his style, at
least in part because few had the stamina for it. None of the images
that the critics invoked to describe his playing -- volcano,
thunderstorm, perpetual-motion machine -- quite did justice to the
strength of his attack, the complexity of his ideas or the originality
of his approach. Elvin Ray Jones
was born in Pontiac, Mich., on Sept. 9, 1927. The youngest of 10
children, he was the third Jones brother to become a professional
musician, following Hank, a respected jazz pianist who is still active,
and Thad, a cornetist, composer, arranger and bandleader, who died in
1986. Mr. Jones began teaching himself to play drums at 13, but
he had lost his heart to the instrument long before then. "I never
wanted to play anything else since I was 2," he told one interviewer. "I
would get these wooden spoons from my mother and beat on the pots and
pans in the kitchen."
Today is the birthday anniversary of drummer Elvin Jones (1927-2004). Few musicians, let alone drummers, have had as pervasive an influence on how jazz is played as Jones exerted. The younger brother of pianist Hank and trumpeter/composer Thad,
Elvin came to NYC in the mid-50’s, and his unorthodox playing raised
many eyebrows, although he was hired almost immediately by Bud Powell,
J.J. Johnson and Stan Getz. Jones’ originality finally blossomed to its
full potential when he joined John Coltrane’s band in 1960, and we’ll
remember him with an early Coltrane masterpiece and then with a sample
of his own excellent band from later years.
In
our last contribution, we talked a little about the drum and its importance and
use in jazz. We also dilated on the structure of the drum and the various
components that make up the drum set. The drum has always been an integral part
of African culture and has served as a medium of communication for people on
the continent and for Africans the world over.
It
is also closely associated with jazz music, and together with the piano, they
represent the fundamental instruments on which the music was developed. We have
traced how the evolution of jazz took shape from the Marching Bands, to Big
Bands playing swing, to mainstream jazz and then bebop, post bebop and
everything else that came after. What is important to note here however, is
that jazz music originated in the United States in the 19th century, through
the confrontation of blacks with European music. Jazz differs from European
music in that it has a special relationship to time which is defined as
“Swing”. There have been many attempts to define jazz, but none of it is
complete or satisfactory because of its evolving nature.
While
it may be difficult to define, the art of improvisation is clearly one of its
key elements. Jazz music is a spontaneous and vital musical production in which
improvisation plays an integral role and the sonority and manner of phrasing by
the performing musician is usually a mirror of his or her individuality. It is
music that includes qualities such as, swinging, improvising, and group
interaction, developing an individual voice and being open to different musical
possibilities.It is also the product of egalitarian creativity, interaction and
collaboration, placing equal value on the contribution of the composer and
performer.
In
European classical music, the elements of interpretation, ornamentation and
accompaniment, are at times left to the discretion of the performer whose primary
role is to play a composition as it was written. European classical music is
said to be the composer’s medium, while in jazz, the skilled performer will
interpret a time in a very individual way, never playing the same composition
exactly the same way twice, all depending on his or her mood, experience, and
interaction with other musicians and even the audience. The early structures of
blues offer repetitive call and response patterns which is a common element in
African American oral tradition and in New Orleans and Dixieland jazz,
performers often took turns playing the melody while others improvise
counter-melodies. By the time of Swing and the Big Band era, there was reliance
on arranged music that was either written or learned by ear and memorized, as
it was common place that many early jazz performers could not read music.
Our
feature this week is about someone whose early interest in jazz was influenced
by Marching Bands he watched as a child and became fascinated by the drummers.
His birth name is Elvin Ray Jones. He was born in Pontiac, Michigan on
September 9th 1927. He is an American drummer of the post-bop era who became
fascinated with drums at the age of two, and following this early passion, he
joined his High School Marching Band where he developed the rudiments of
drumming. After leaving high school, he joined the U.S. Army in 1946, was
discharged in 1949 and returned home broke and unemployed. He then borrowed
thirty five dollars from his sister and bought his first drum set.
He
began his professional career in 1949 playing at a local club in Detroit called
the Grand River Street Club. In 1955, he auditioned for the Benny Goodman Band,
but was not successful, so he decided to move to New York where there were more
opportunities for jazz sidemen to find work. While in New York, he joined
Charles Mingus band and later released a record called J for Jazz. In 1960,
Jones joined the classic John Coltrane Quartet which also included bassist
Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner.
This
band is widely considered to have redefined “Swing” (i.e. the rhythmic feel of
jazz) in as much the same way that Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker did
during the early stages of jazz.
Jones
and Coltrane would often play extended duets together and he stayed with Coltrane
until 1966 when he left the band to give way for the group’s second
drummer-Rashid Ali, who had a multi directional approach to the music as
opposed to the polyrhythmic style of Jones. After leaving Coltrane, he remained
active and led several bands in the 60’s and 70’s, notable among those bands
was a trio formed with saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Farrell and
bassist Jimmy Garrison with whom Elvin recorded the Blue Note album- “Putting
it Together”. Jones would record extensively for the Blue Note label under his
own name and later with groups that featured prominent musicians as well as up
and coming ones. Other musicians, who made significant contributions to Elvin’s
music, were baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, tenor saxophonist George Coleman
and trumpeter Lee Morgan.
Jones’s
sense of timing and his dynamic focus on polyrhythms brought the drum set to
the forefront of jazz music. His free flowing style became a major influence on
many leading Rock drummers including Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker. Jones
performed and recorded with his own band 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 through the 90’s,
performing, recording and touring with Elvin.
Jones
was known to give free concerts in Prisons and also gave lessons on music
history and drumming. He died of heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey, on May
18th2004.
Together
with Art Blakey and Max Roach, Jones is considered one of the legendary jazz
drummers to date.
Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.[1] He showed an 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 house band led by Billy Mitchell. He moved to New York City 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 (along with Jimmy Garrison on bass and McCoy Tyner on piano), a celebrated recording phase, appearing on such albums as A Love Supreme and Live at Birdland. Following his work with Coltrane, Jones led several small groups, some under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank Jones and Thad Jones were also jazz musicians with whom he recorded.[1] He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995.[2]
Early life
Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, United States,[3] to parents Henry and Olivia Jones, who had moved to Michigan from Vicksburg, Mississippi. His two elder brothers, Hank Jones and Thad Jones,
both became jazz musicians respectively on piano and trumpet. 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. 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. With his mustering-out pay and an additional $35 (US$376 in 2019 dollars[4]) borrowed from his sister, Jones purchased his first drumset.[5]
In 1960, he began playing with John Coltrane.[3] By 1962, he had become an integral member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet along with bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner.[3] 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. He
stayed with Coltrane until 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.
Jones
remained active after leaving the Coltrane group, and led several bands
in the late 1960s and 1970s that are considered 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
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 played on many albums of the modal jazz era, such as The Real McCoy with McCoy Tyner as well as on saxophonist Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil.
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.
He appeared as the villain Job Cain in the 1971 musical Western filmZachariah,[8] in which he performed a drum solo after winning a saloon gunfight.[8] Jones performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, whose line up changed through the years. 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.
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.[9]
Death
Elvin Jones died of heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey on May 18, 2004.[10]
He was survived by his first wife Shirley and his common-law second
wife Keiko (Elvin married Keiko before divorcing Shirley, meaning that
legally he and Keiko were not married), in addition to his son Elvin
Nathan Jones of California and daughter Rose-Marie Rosie Jones of
Sweden.[citation needed] On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Elvin Jones among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[11]
Elvin Jones was not only one of the most original, innovative, and
influential drummers the world has ever seen, he was also a musical
genius far ahead of his time. In his early years he was often criticized
for playing unconventionally, and to a great extent, his critics were
correct — Elvin never played the obvious. But that, among so many other
qualities, made him unlike any drummer that preceded him, and changed
the direction of jazz drumming forever.
Jazz bassist Ron Carter might have put it best when he stated in the 1979 video documentary Different Drummer:
“The only way to illustrate or accurately define Elvin’s contribution
is to play a recording of a pre-Elvin Jones drummer, play a recording of
Elvin Jones, and then play a recording of a post-Elvin Jones drummer. I
think these three examples would best illustrate all of Elvin’s
contributions to the drums better than words could ever say.”
So is it even possible to describe Elvin’s style in words? As Carter
suggested — it’s not easy. Elvin didn’t just play the drums in his own
unique way, he heard the drums differently as well. Whenever Elvin sat
down at his kit he played with authority, conviction, and pure raw
emotion. His drumming was extremely natural and free flowing, bursting
with spontaneity and endless creativity.
Much of Elvin’s playing can be compared to the “sheets of sound” that
jazz critic Ira Gilter used to describe John Coltrane’s solo on “Giant
Steps.” In other words, Elvin’s complex, ever-changing style could at
times be compared to a wall of sound, which seemed as if two or three
drummers were playing at once.
His phrases often avoided the standardized musical constraints of
downbeats and barlines. His groove was relentless, and ride cymbal
phrasing was unprecedented. He possessed a keen melodic instinct, an
uncanny ability to create and shape musical colors and textures, an
individual touch and sound, and endless energy. Most drummers can only
dream of playing the rhythmic juxtapositions and superimpositions that
came so easily to Elvin, who — rightly or wrongly — was often described
as the most polyrhythmic drummer in jazz history.
“Play The Music.” During our private sessions
together and in drum clinics, Elvin would emphasize that the drum set
should be used to “play the music.” His point was that drummers should
always have a musical reason for the drum parts they play, rather than
resorting to a series of random licks that don’t relate to the musical
moment or composition.
Always a strong advocate for knowing the melody and musical structure
of a composition, Elvin said, “The drummer should know as much about
the composition to be performed as does the pianist, bassist, and the
horn players.” He would also suggest that knowing the lyrics could be
very helpful in shaping a musical composition. “After knowing this kind
of musical information one can then begin to construct and orchestrate a
musical drum part that has some substance along with a musical shape to
it.”
With that in mind, we felt it was valuable to demonstrate the
fascinating way that Elvin orchestrated his drum part to compliment a
song’s melody. Elvin’s composition titled “Three Card Molly” really
captured my imagination. I will never forget the time back in May of
1979 when Elvin stayed at my home. I asked if he could show me how he
orchestrated that particular drum part, and he graciously sat down
behind my drum set and began to demonstrate his rhythmic phrasing of the
melody. Needless to say, I asked if he could please play it slowly so I
could try to grasp the complexity and nuances of his drumming. With my
tape recorder running, I stood there and watched in amazement the work
of a true drum genius.
Concerning the following musical transcription, it’s very important
to understand that the drumming of Elvin Jones is beyond any
transcription. Musical notation has its limits, especially when it comes
to jazz performance. One cannot notate such significant and
personalized characteristics as pure emotion, human spirit, truth, and
intensity, or that incredible loose and relaxed feel that was such an
important part of that unmistakable Elvin Jones sound.
Performance Notes. “Three Card Molly” is made up of
two different melodic phrases. The A phrases are eight measures in
length, while the B phrase (or bridge) is four measures long. Compare
the lead sheet melody with the drum transcription and notice how every
note of the melody has been orchestrated with Elvin’s unique use of
triplet phrasing. The accents notated on both the melody page and the
drum part should help provide you with a basic reference point. Elvin masterfully interprets the “contrast” phrase at letter B,
creating almost primal patterns using toms and bass drum. This, along
with his shifting accents, both complements and shapes the rising and
falling tension of the melodic line. His rhythmic phrasing during the
bridge is quite polyrhythmic and highly syncopated, yet he always makes
it groove and swing so damn hard — it’s just phenomenal! As mentioned
earlier, Elvin plays some things that are beyond notation, and his part
during the bridge is one of those instances. The A and B phrases clearly
demonstrate Elvin’s uncanny ability to come up with unique textural and
rhythmic phrases that “play the music” as only he can. First let’s take a look at the melody:
In Closing. This transcription provides a very small
glimpse into the world of a musical genius, and the most unique and
masterful jazz drum innovator who has ever lived. I hope you will study
and enjoy it, and benefit from his ideas. Any drummer would do well to
study Elvin’s sound and musical vocabulary through his recordings both
prior to his years with John Coltrane and after. As for me, I’m proud to say that Elvin Jones was my friend,
colleague, and a very important mentor. I love you and will miss you
always, Elvin! I won’t forget you or what you’ve shared with me. I am a
better person for knowing you, and am indebted to you forever. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan Sabanovich has had an active career as both a jazz musician
and educator at San Jose State University. He has played with Charlie
Byrd, George Cables, Pete Escovedo, Clare Fisher, Tom Harrell, Joe
Henderson, the Bobby Hutcherson and Woody Shaw Quintet, and the Steve
Czarnecki Soul Jazz Quintet.He can be contacted via email atdsabanov@netscape.net
THE MUSIC OF ELVIN JONES: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH ELVIN JONES:
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
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