Legendary jazz drummer Elvin Jones dies

This from John P. DeChristopher Director of Artist Relations & Event Marketing Worldwide Avedis Zildjian Company-World Headquarters ...


Dear friends,

It's with a heavy heart and deep sadness that I inform you all that our beloved friend Elvin Jones passed away today, Tuesday, May 18th at 2:46 p.m. eastern time in New York. He was 76 years young. Please take a moment to pause and remember this very special person.

I do not have any information regarding a funeral service ... In the meantime, please pray that his journey be a safe and peaceful one. God Bless you, Elvin.

With thanks, John

Here's part of his bio at AMG.com:

Elvin Jones will always be best-known for his association with the classic John Coltrane Quartet (1960-65) but he has also had a notable career as a bandleader and has continued being a major influence during the past 30 years. One of the all-time great drummers (bridging the gap between advanced hard bop and the avant-garde), Elvin is the younger brother of a remarkable musical family that also includes Hank and Thad Jones. ...

 

Very sad news indeed, but as reports of Elvin's condition have circulated recently this comes as no surprise. What a gig there must be in the Sky today...

Gonna have to spin me some Coltrane tonight...

 

Amen to that. And I'm going to toast a glass of wine to him.

 

Sad News...
Gonna go play Lee Konitz - "Motion" now and meditate on Elvin's great drumming....

 

A great gig in the sky indeed. Can't imagine another drummer who could challenge Coltrane the way he did. I just put on A LOVE SUPREME and the first sound you hear is Elvin's gong. If he just played on this one album you would have to pencil him in the history books. Luckily for us there is so much more. Rest in peace Elvin....

 

About to head off for the night, but not before I got wind of this through an e-mail....we had a thread about him recently, and the news did not sound good. May this musical titan rest in peace.....he was one of the best drummers I've ever heard.....R.I.P, Elvin!




ED

 

God, that's awful. And I just got his Mosaic set (8 cds) today from my wife for our anniversary. (She's the best). I'll be listening tomorrow with a heavy heart. I haven't cracked it open just yet. I think I'll always remember the day I got this set now...

R.I.P. Elvin. I'm glad you got to play recently, too. Whatta man!

 

R.I.P.

 

No one else could play like Elvin Jones.
He is no more pain. God bless him.

 

I hate to resort to cliches, but all I can come up with right now is this: There will never be another Elvin Jones. We were lucky to have him for so long. Our thoughts are with his family.

 

Max Roach was to have received an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania at the graduation ceremonies on Monday. Sadly he was too ill to attend. The legends in jazz are passing away.

 

From AP:

NEW YORK (May 19, 2004) - Elvin Ray 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. He was 76. Jones died of heart failure in an Englewood, N.J., hospital, said his wife of 38 years, Keiko Jones.

"He's happy. No more suffering," said Keiko Jones. "He's been fighting for so long."

Jones, called by Life magazine "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer," was born in Pontiac, Mich., one of ten children. He had two musician brothers: Hank, a jazz pianist, and Thad, a trumpet and flugelhorn player.

Jones entered the Detroit jazz scene in the late 1940s after touring as a stagehand with the Army Special Services show Operation Happiness.

After a brief gig at the Detroit club Grand River Street, he went to work at another club, backing up such jazz greats as Parker, Davis and Wardell Grey.

Jones came to New York in 1955 for an unsuccessful audition for the Benny Goodman band but stayed in the city, joining Charlie Mingus' band and making a record called "J is Jazz." In 1960, he became a member of John Coltrane's quartet.

Jones, with his rhythmic, innovative style, became one of jazz's most famous drummers under Coltrane. He can be heard on Coltrane's "A love Supreme" and "Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard."

After leaving the Coltrane quartet, Jones briefly played with Duke Ellington and formed the Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine. He put out several solo albums and continued to tour, including last month in Oakland, Calif., Keiko Jones said.

Besides his wife, Jones is survived by a son and a daughter.
__________________

 

He'll be missed.

 

What sad news! Thanks for the memories, Elvin!

 

Godspeed, Elvin Jones. Thank you.

 

Very sad. The last news I had heard here was that he was improving... so it's a bit of a shock.

 

One of the best Jazz drummers ever. I'm glad he isn't suffering anymore. RIP, Elvin Jones.

Evan

 

Try to check out his performance in the rock and roll western movie 'Zachariah'. His solo was the best thing in the movie. RIP.

 

I just saw the news - I just saw Elvin on April 3rd at the Regattabar in Cambridge, Mass. He looked happy but was very weak (but not as weak as his backup band). The tour was at his wife's insistance, against Doctor's orders. She looked like one scary lady.

 

The word is that he was touring at his own insistance, against his doctor's orders, but with his wife's *support*. Check out these threads, and especially the link in the first post of the first one!

L.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=32936&highlight=elvin+jones

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=33203&highlight=elvin+jones

 

Another musical giant has passed, but that doesn't mean jazz as we know it is dead, yet. I saw Elvin last year at the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, and he still had the power and imagination but only in carefully measured quantities. I swore he was pacing himself for the big drum solo about 2/3 of the way through the set when he went from well below simmer to almost boiling, but not quite. I'm bad at links, but if you want to read a good obit check out Francis Davis in the Village Voice which is available on line. A fitting tribute indeed.

 

Here's the link to Davis' obit. Thanks ATR, a fitting tribute is right.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0421/davis2.php

L.

 

Check it out -
Carlos Santana blasts the media for not giving Elvin his due:

www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040530-9999-1a30varga.html

 

A great obit. I hadn't seen that Borges quote before. It's perfect.