Elvin: No Longer Rumor but Sad Reality

[Valerie]

He's gone. Heard indirectly from Keiko.

[RainyDay]

It's sad because he was so great and now he's gone. It's sad because he represented a generation of music, the likes of which, we will probably never see again. It saddens me deeply just knowing he is no longer in the world.

[trane_fanatic]

just saw him not too long ago at SFJAZZ.

I am so saddened right now. Pretty sure he's up there jammin' with John and Jimmy in that big studio in the sky. Mr. Tyner's the last one left of the greatest musical group (in my eyes) of all time in any genre.

http://www.jazzlandscapes.com/websit...tml/stage.html

[trane_fanatic]

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.

[Monty Stark]

[128Bit_Encryption]

I was stunned read this. It's just another giant in the music to fall. Elvin Jones will be missed.

[Freek]

Very sad.

To me, Elvin Jones stands for a generation of artists I've begun to admire just recently. So frustrating that pretty much all of them are dead by now...

Sadly, Elvin has joined his peers. He was the best drummer ever. Period.

[LAL]

RIP Elvin Jones. Thank you for your invaluable contributions to music. They will live on for a long time.

[JFitzGenius]

If you hear thunder today, don't look for storm clouds. You'll know what it is.

[gdogus]

Elvin - thanks for everything, my man. What a career! What a life! Just beautiful. I'm saddened only by his protracted illness near the end.

[Tenorman]

From the BBC

Jazz drumming legend Jones dies


Jones played with some of the greats of modern jazz
Elvin Ray Jones, a renowned jazz drummer and member of John Coltrane's quartet, has died in the US aged 76.
Jones, who also played alongside Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, died of heart failure in a New Jersey hospital on Tuesday.

Jones, named by Life magazine as "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer", joined band leader Charlie Mingus' ranks in New York in the mid-1950s.

He played on some of Coltrane's famed recordings, including A Love Supreme.

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, one of 10 children, Jones had two musician brothers, Hank, a pianist, and Thad, a trumpet and flugelhorn player.

He entered the Detroit jazz scene in the late 1940s and came to New York in 1955, auditioning unsuccessfully for the Benny Goodman band.

He joined Coltrane's quartet in 1960, playing on records such as Live at the Village Vanguard.

He later formed Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine, put out several solo albums and continued to tour.

Jones leaves his wife of 38 years, Keiko, a son and a daughter.

[Monty Stark]

i heard him play with Trane many times in NY

even bumped into him coming out of a pawn shop with his snare drum

even saw him walking at 3 or 4 in the morning, and offered to give him a ride home - when i stopped at a red light, he said, “awww man,” and got out of the car!! to him there was no reason to stop at a red light when there is no traffic

that smile - that energy - that quartet........ damn, i’m lucky to be this old

[3pointdeli]

terribly sad news, but elvin gave the world so much.

thanks elvin.

[victor]

if they made a hall of fame for drummers elvin jones would definitely be elected first ballot.....what a sad sad day it is when another of the giants and i do mean GIANTS of this wonderful music leave us....we are all saddened but are so thankful that his great music will be with us forever.....i know he is at peace now and is jamming away in the baddest big band of all with all the other legends....my prayers go out to his wife and family during this very sad time.....god bless you elvin and thank you for the wonderful music you left us.....you will be missed but never forgotten

[xricci]

i'm paying tribute to elvin on the home page.