Elvin Jones - Baterista

Quem é este "Monstro" da Música? Descubram voces mesmo!
O melhor é mesmo ouvirem os cd's em que este "monstro" da Música participa, mas deixo aqui um cheirinho da carreira dele.

Elvin Ray Jones was born September 9, 1927 in Pontiac, Michigan, the youngest of ten children. His father, originally from Vicksburg, Mississipi, was a lumber inspector for General Motors, a deacon in the Baptist church, and a bass in the church choir. "The greatest lady in the world", as Elvin describes his mother, encouraged him and above all taught him the value of self-sufficiency; the strenght to survive that "was especially valuable to me in the beginning as a musician". Music was in full flower in the Jones home. Brother Hank is known as one of the finest pianists in jazz, and brother Thad became a highly successful trumpet and flugelhorn player, arranger and band leader.

By age 13, determined to be a drummer, Elvin was practicing eight to ten hours a day. He went nowhere without drum sticks in his pocket, and would beat out rhythms on any available surface. Early influences Elvin likes to cite range from Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Jo Jones to parade drummers and the American Legion Drum Corps! In 1946 Elvin enlisted in the Army, and toured with a Special Services show called Operation Happiness - as a stagehand. Unofficially, however, he was honing his own musical skills and gaining confidence, playing at post social affairs.


Elvin made his move to New York ostensibly to audition for a new Benny Goodman band. Instead, he ended up with Charles Mingus, and in subsequent years he developed his style with Bud Powell, Miles Davis, the Pepper Adams-Donald Byrd Quintet, Art Farmer and J.J. Johnson. He also had his first experiences playing with Miles' tenor man and the increasingly celebrated recording artist John Coltrane. After leaving Miles in 1960, Coltrane was touring in San Francisco with his new group when he flew back to New York to seek out Elvin. Elvin joined one of jazz' most celebrated alliances in, of all places, Denver, Colorado. Through 1966, Elvin contributed to some of the most controversial, influential, and ultimately important music in jazz. Among the triumphant recordings from his great association are "A love Supreme" and "Coltrane 'Live' at the Village Vanguard". About this experience, Elvin comments: "Right from the beginning to the last time we played together it was something pure. The most impressive thing was a feeling of steady, collective learning... If there is anything like perfect harmony in human relationships, that band was as close as you can come".

Com quem tocou este senhor...alguns nomes!

John Coltrane Quartet
Wayne Shorter
McCoy Tyner
Miles Davis
Dewey Redman
Cecil Taylor
Sonny Rollins
Duke Ellington
Barry Harris
Pete LaRoca
Chick Corea
Donald Bailey
Yuseef Lateef
Freddie Hubbard
Reggie Workman
Art Davis
Curtis Fuller
Gil Evans Orchestra
Budd Johnson
Ron Carter
Johnny Simmons
Charlie Mariano
Hank Jones
Pharao Sanders
Larry Young
Jazz Machine
Art Pepper
Ray Brown
Javon Jackson
Joshua Redman
Nicholas Payton
Kent Jordan
Cecil McBee
Dave Holland
Steve Kirby
Eric Lewis
Darren Barrett
Antoine Roney.



Actualmente com 74 anos anda en tour com a sua banda Elvin Jones and the Jazz Machine Band



Para terminar, um review de um cd que saiu agora.

Elvin Jones: The Complete Blue Note Elvin Jones Sessions (CD)


There are reissues, and then there are reissues. And then there is this reissue. The Complete Blue Note Elvin Jones Sessions (Mosaic) not only includes some of every jazz fan's favorite tunes but it also provides an insider's view of Jones' style, courtesy of David Liebman, who was his bassist between 1971 and 1973.

These recordings span a period from 1968 to 1973. After Coltrane died, Jones recorded a series of great albums on Blue Note, all captured here. Everything that makes Jones one of the greatest musicians of all time is here: the amazing solos, playing way behind the beat, the incessant ride cymbal, dexterous left-hand rhythms that define the loose Elvin feel, unbelievably powerful toms, and his delicate brush work. Not to mention the humor and creativity that informs his work.

He is featured in several different lineups during these years. There is too much to pick from in this set but I found myself liking the first two recordings, Puttin' It Together, and The Ultimate Elvin Jones. Recorded with horn man Joe Farrell and bassist Jimmy Garrison, these discs put all the focus on the rhythm section and Jones delivers.

This was a tumultuous period in jazz, when acoustic was giving way to electric and rock influences were changing the music. By the final recording, later released as Prime Element, the band includes guitarists Cornell Dupree, percussionist producer Omar Clay, as well as several horns and keyboards. Jones' playing is intense and furious, in keeping with the free jazz sensibilities of the day.

Several years ago, at Zildjian's 375th Anniversary celebration, the company celebrated with a tribute to four of the century's great drummers - Roy Haynes, Max Roach, Louis Bellson and Elvin Jones. Teri Lynn Carrington, Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine and Smitty Smith played tributes to these greats in a remarkable evening of music hosted by Bill Cosby. Then at the end of the night, Cos' invited Elvin, Max, Louie and Roy up on stage and asked them to play on various objects that he gave them - chairs, boxes, and so forth. Jones was handed a bucket and proceeded to play a bright, spontaneous composition that wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of his old recordings. Even in a throwaway moment, he couldn't play with anything less than humility, creativity and virtuosity.