Elvin Jones - Famous Jazz Drummer
Elvin Jones, born in 1927 in Michigan, was known as one of the foremost jazz drummers of the post-bop era. He became interested in drums at an early age, recalling that as a boy, he used to watch the drums of the circus bands that marched by his home, and sometimes follow them for miles after the parade.
This passion led him to join his high school marching band, where he learned the basics of drumming. After high school, he joined the army for 4 years, and upon his discharge in 1949 he borrowed $35 from his sister and bought his first drumset. And so his professional career began.
He had a short-lived gig at Detroit’s Grand River Street Club, but went on to play with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Wardell Gray. In 1955, he moved to New York and joined Charles Mingus’s band. In 1960 Elvin joined the legendary John Coltrane Quartet and this is where he defined himself as a drummer. This band has been credited with redefining swing in much the same way that Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and others did during early jazz. He stayed with Coltrane until 1966 when he felt his polyrhythmic style clashed with the new direction in which Coltrane was moving.
Jones stayed active after leaving Coltrane, and led several very influential bands in the late 60s and 70s. Among them was the trio of saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Farrell, formerly involved in the Coltrane Quartet, and bassist Jimmy Garrison. Together they recorded the Blue Note album “Puttin’ It Together.” Jones recorded many albums for the Blue Note under his own name in the late sixties and early seventies, working with many well-known and up-and-coming artists.
His sense of timing, polyrhythms, timbre and legato phrasing, as well as the amount of sound he produced, brought the drumset to the limelight. Life Magazine called Jones “the world’s greatest rhythmic drummer,” and his free-flowing style influenced many rock drummers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Mitch Mitchell (whom Jimi Hendrix referred to as “my Elvin Jones”) and Ginger Baker.
Jones died in 2004, but he remained active in many venues right up until the end. He taught lessons, was involved in percussion clinics, played in schools, and performed numerous free concerts in prisons. When he taught, he emphasized not only drum technique, but music history as well. Elvin was also known for his endorsement and collection of Zildjian K Cymbals.
Elvin Jones had a long and illustrious career spanning more than 50 years. His drumming can be heard on more than 70 albums from 1955 to 2001.