Elvin Jones : RIP

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

An amazing drummer, one of the best. What more needs to be said. R.I.P.

― Pursuance, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:17 (twenty-two years ago)

:'-(
This makes me very sad.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Got a link? There was a rumor last week that he was dead, but it turned out to be false. He's very, very ill, but I'm gonna wait until I read an obituary.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Here's a recent thread about his declining health, for those who may not have seen it. (it also adresses the rumours alluded to by Phil)

Elvin Jones gravely ill

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

google news has nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if this was just that rumor getting out of hand.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I've still got my fingers crossed and I'm sending out strong positive vibes for Elvin. Fucking keep going mate!

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:43 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.zildjian.com/

Dear Friends,
It's with a heavy heart and deep sadness that I inform you all that our beloved friend Elvin Jones passed away 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.

Sincerely,

John P. DeChristopher
Director of Artist Relations &
Event Marketing Worldwide
Avedis Zildjian Company

― Pursuance, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow. Well, I guess that's that then. RIP to one of the best ever.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

there's a lot of music to listen to tonight

― (Jon L), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I am sad.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

wow. i'm actually more upset than i thought i would be at this.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP

Now those stories about his playing despite great difficulty and illness seem even more awesome. That is someone who really loved music.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

sad zildjian is seemingly the first to announce too. its not necessarily the most flattering comparison, but i think that coltrane quartet:jazz::beatles:rock and its fucked that few gave a shit when he was alive, and less will care now. when someone important dies, my record store stocks more of their stuff, and even though we now have the collected works 17x of johnny cash and the clash filling our bins, we probably wont stock another copy of any of the sessions Jones played on.

i think the reason that i can get bitter as a jazz fan is because of moments like these. many people now recognize the genius of van gogh, and they say "oh what idiots people were to not see his talent, to allow him to die in solitude, with no recgnition, and, damn, if i were there, i would have bought a copy of sunflowers and held on to it no matter how much I would receive for selling it". well, hidsight is 20:20, but Jones' talent was just as clear as van gogh's, and i hope in 50 years, some kid is sitting around wondering what the fuck we were all thinking for letting this pass (because it will). thats the best we can hope for.

my condolences to his family.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:51 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP.

Aaron's sentiments unfortunately OTM.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

:-(

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:56 (twenty-two years ago)

wow. i'm actually more upset than i thought i would be at this.

Yeah me too. One of my earliest best unreleased songs was about how E.J.'s drums get completely into your body. He was one of my heroes strictly on the merits of his work: just toweringly great but so often in a quiet way - the way he sits back on the ride from time to time waiting for his chance, then the sudden-but-not-sudden-because-totally-natural burst. Damn.

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:57 (twenty-two years ago)

this is one of my dad's favorites. he played with deep spirit..god bless all who hear beyond the noise of the highway.

― lincoln nelson, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Well put, Aaron, but jazz fans will make a big deal about this. Few might have given a shit, but that's because relatively few listen to jazz or even worse, are aware of jazz's place in the music pantheon (and of Elvin Jones' role within it). Jazz understand Jones' greatness, they appreciated him when he was alive just as they now mourn him after his death.
Based on that alone, Jones died with more honour than van Gogh.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks though maybe i am a bit melodramatic about it all. i sort of feel like an idiot for not being able to do something that most jazz fans dont have the opportunity to do: see their idols alive and playing.

anyone want to help me bring roy haynes to DC?

(barry y rprob right, but it would be nice to see recognition beyond jazz audience)

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

my favorite drummer.RIP.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

A legend. RIP

― Joe (Joe), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 00:31 (twenty-two years ago)

also my favorite drummer. first time i've actually had an affective reaction to a musician dying ... a certain type of jazz will never be played again, as i really can't think of anyone who sounds ilke him.

― jake in portland (cerybut), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Rest In Peace, Elvin. I was watching him play last night on a video Iwith JC in '64. He was remarkable. I'm sad i never got to see him play live.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Fuck this is depressing.

Someone needs to do an Elvin POX. The man was so fucking amazing, the way he implied the beat without getting right out and saying it...impressionist drum playing? That's probably a bad description. I just love how it seemed like he was simply randomly batting around on the drums yet kept time regardless. An amazing talent, so much energy, fuck. I'm terrible at describing this.

Time to haul out live at birdland.

― djdee2005, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

"And what if darkened drummers who can play just like Elvin never escape the mandibles of their mothers, keeping silence when screaming upwards from deep within his inner voice - crying into the vortex of night, subtle terrors make writing a scrawling of dying-wish notes? Time to make another adversary list up to the sky as you travel by"

from Kurt Elling's lyrics to "Tanya Jean"

RIP

― briania (briania), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope no one minds, but I'd like to say R.I.P. Elvin Jones and R.I.P. Barney Kessel. They were both so very cool.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:40 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP. Another hand up to say he was my favorite drummer ever - and that's spoken as a drummer myself. "Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, thoughts, fears and emotions - time - all related... all made from one... all made in one." JC

― Dr. Annabel Lies (Michael Kelly), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:41 (twenty-two years ago)

"Fuck this is depressing."

I don't quite get this sentiment. The guy lived a good long life, 76 years. He was successful and hopefully happy. What's there to be depressed about?

― Debito (Debito), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 01:45 (twenty-two years ago)

About eleven years ago or so I saw the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine play the San Sebastian jazz festival. My friend's older brother Juan and I went to the fest, which was in this old roofless outdoor theatre. Not long before Elvin went on it started to rain and people scattered to the perimeters, looking for any shelter they could find. The faithful, however, stuck around right in front and watched Elvin and his band, maybe about two dozen of us total. And for the duration of the show, while we all stood in ther rain staring in awe, Elvin had the biggest smile stretched across his face.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

wow.

goodnight legend.

― .rob (rgeary), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 02:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I love how he played on "India." RIP.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 02:55 (twenty-two years ago)

rip.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 03:27 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP Elvin.

I told one of my Elvin Jones stories on the other thread. The other is about a session that Richard Davis told me about from a couple of years ago, an as-yet-unreleased studio session with Hank Jones, Elvin Jones, and Richard. Richard got the call from Hank and said something like, "Aww, why do want to call me for that, Elvin plays so loud you won't be able to hear the bass player anyways, you can call anyone." But, he did it, and he came back saying that when Elvin played behind his older brother it was the most quiet and sensitive that he had ever heard him, and that it was a really beautiful experience. I hope that record comes out at some point.

I'm so glad I got to hear EJ live and sounding as good as ever (and at that show he was the loudest jazz drummer I've ever heard).

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 03:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Elvin at the Toronto Jazz Festival a couple of years ago with the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, and he played his ass off. I'll never forget it. Elvin, you are missed.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 04:58 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Friend of mine was sitting in a pub in Soho a couple of years ago. A saxaphone player was busking in the streets outside. Suddenly she hears this guy shouting excitedly "Twenty pounds!! Elvin Jones just gave me twenty pounds". (My friend didn't even know who Elvin, then playing at Ronnie Scott's was).

(I think I may have told this story on ilx before but a search didn't find it).

A great guy as well as a great musician.

― ArfArf, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 10:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Not only a genius but a true gentleman. (Once gave this anonymous fan a spontaneous hug when I approached him for an autograph - full story in that previous thread of a few days ago.) Next time there's a thunderstorm, I'm gonna haul my speakers out to the balcony and play "Africa/Brass" or "Out of This World" extra-loud. The astral plane just got a whole lot less quiet. Thanks Elvin! RIP.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 10:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I especially loved how he could manage different time signatures simultaneously. I heard it described that he saw shapes during his solos; he was truly connected.

― christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 12:11 (twenty-two years ago)

There's that one video he did in the '70s, 'A Different Drummer'. It's pretty great, as well as amusing (the yellow mesh tank-top and gold necklace, etc.). He talks about seeing colors with the drums and cymbals, only very literally, like "Now this one here is red, and this one is blue, and if I hit them together it's sort of it's sort of an orange, etc."

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

RIP. Played on some good records, eh?

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

And I'll add, many times made those records great.

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 12:47 (twenty-two years ago)

The CNN headline reads:
"Coltrane drummer dies at 76"

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/19/obit.jones.ap/index.html

I think Aaron and Barry both OTM.

― JC-L (JC-L), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

The astral plane just got a whole lot less quiet.

OTM. RIP Elvin.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Last night I watched one of my favorite scenes of any movie ever, from a film called Zackariah, wherein Elvin plays a character who guns down some cowboy in a duel then sits down and plays a twenty minute just totally fucking SEARING drum solo. If you haven't seen him in that movie, I recommend.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 14:11 (twenty-two years ago)

HOLY FUCK...so bummed! my favorite jazz drummer ever!!!!

man, what a drag.

― ddb, Wednesday, 19 May 2004 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

nineteen years pass...

I'd forgotten those stories on this thread about EJ handing me a nickel when I saw him, and the one about the gun: Elvin Jones gravely ill

So glad I posted them! Also, the Hank Jones & Richard Davis album I posted about above must be this, also glad to put that together and be able to hear it now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJkTULrcns

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 5 March 2024 19:42 (two years ago)

What got me on this kick is this video of his trio with Jimmy Garrison & Joe Farrell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kat9QB91DMo

Also listening to his album "Puttin' It Together" with the same group, which is great.

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 5 March 2024 19:43 (two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.