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Author:  David Luebbert Posted:  11/11/04; 12:58:04 PM Msg#:  4373 (top msg in thread) Prev/Next:  4372/4374 Reads:  122583

Jazz Quotes

I found this colection of quotes by jazz players this morning. My favorite so far is by Ellis Marsalis as reported by his son Branford: "You donÃt know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything."

Elvin Jones

Elvin Jones, the drum master who played with John Coltrane in his great quartet and later led the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine for many years, died on May 18th. He was one of my heroes, and was greatly responsible for the success of many of the tunes listed in "The Changes, since in the spur of the moment he invented a unique rhythm accompaniment for their first recorded performance.

He was the original drummer for Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Spiritual, Crescent, Wise One,  The Promise, Big Nick, Lonnie's Lament and his famous performances of My Favorite Things, Afro Blue and Out of This World.

 He was Freddie Hubbard's drummer for the first recording of Crisis, Marie Antoinette, and Arietis.

He was Wayne Shorter's man for Night Dreamer, Ju-Ju, Mahjohng,  Speak No Evil, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, Witch Hunt, Virgo, Charcoal Blues, Black Nile, Armageddon,  Joe Henderson's drummer for Inner Urge, Punjab and Isotope, McCoy Tyner's for Passion Dance, Contemplation, Search For Peace and Blues On The Corner.

He was the only man I know who could single-handedly sound like an ocean in full storm as he did on Coltrane's "Transition" or a roaring tornado as he was for Trane's saxophone-drum duet, "Vigil". He could somehow  mysteriously float and be heavy as a sledge hammer simultaneously in Shorter's Night Dreamer for Shorter. And he could be infinitely gentle and tender to play Infant Eyes, also for Shorter.

I found three memorial sites today that draw a wonderful portrait of him as a man and as a musician. Saxophonist Dave Liebman,  who played with Jones for several years, wrote a personal reaction upon Elvin's death,  Father Has Passed. Earlier he wrote the liner notes for the Elvin Jones Blue Note boxed set for Mosaic Records which included a great description of Elvin's musical genius. Chuck Silverman's tribute includes several pictures of Elvin and a large number of Elvin's quotations from interviews he gave over the years.

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