Elvin Jones lived to be 76 years old, which is a long life for a jazz musician. Jones is most famous for being the drummer in John Coltrane's peerless 1960s quartet.
He should also be famous for his belief that the drum kit was more than just a big metronome - to refer to him as a mere "timekeeper" would certainly have offended his deepest musical sensibilities. I can't say that I've ever heard a drummer (besides Max Roach) who could coax such expressive qualities from his kit. His style was characterized by a dervish of polyrhythms that would make a drum-circle hippie's head spin, but he was also always reliably constant, providing a concrete foundation for the avant-garde architecture of Trane's improvisations. I don't think that Trane ever got the best of him, and to never be outshone by Coltrane's ferocity and genius, well, that's quite the accomplishment.
Heaping accolades upon great musicians is rather ineffectual - their music doesn't need words, it needs ears (and as is the case with many great jazz musicians, most ears have long since turned to more vapid fare). You can hear Elvin at his finest on any of the Coltrane Quartet albums released on the "Impulse" label, especially on "A Love Supreme." My personal favorite performance is 'Afro Blue' from "Live at Birdland," about which Amiri Baraka had this to say: "The long tag of 'Afro Blue,' with Elvin thrashing and cursing beneath Trane's line is unbelievable. Beautiful has nothing to do with it, but it is. (I got up and danced while writing these notes, screaming at Elvin to cool it)."
He should also be famous for his belief that the drum kit was more than just a big metronome - to refer to him as a mere "timekeeper" would certainly have offended his deepest musical sensibilities. I can't say that I've ever heard a drummer (besides Max Roach) who could coax such expressive qualities from his kit. His style was characterized by a dervish of polyrhythms that would make a drum-circle hippie's head spin, but he was also always reliably constant, providing a concrete foundation for the avant-garde architecture of Trane's improvisations. I don't think that Trane ever got the best of him, and to never be outshone by Coltrane's ferocity and genius, well, that's quite the accomplishment.
Heaping accolades upon great musicians is rather ineffectual - their music doesn't need words, it needs ears (and as is the case with many great jazz musicians, most ears have long since turned to more vapid fare). You can hear Elvin at his finest on any of the Coltrane Quartet albums released on the "Impulse" label, especially on "A Love Supreme." My personal favorite performance is 'Afro Blue' from "Live at Birdland," about which Amiri Baraka had this to say: "The long tag of 'Afro Blue,' with Elvin thrashing and cursing beneath Trane's line is unbelievable. Beautiful has nothing to do with it, but it is. (I got up and danced while writing these notes, screaming at Elvin to cool it)."