 Elvin Jones belonged to a very elite group of musicians whose careers reflect the full history of modern jazz. From his work with Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis in the 1950s through his pivotal association with John Coltrane in the 60s, he helped lead the transformation of bop to post bop to avant garde. Had he disappeared from the bandstand in 1970, his work would have forever changed the soundscape of jazz drumming. Yet Elvin never stopped pushing time and space, and over the last thirty years, nurtured the careers of many young lions of both rock and jazz, who, in the 21st century, are themselves leading a new generation in exciting directions. The seeds of rhythm and innovation that he planted in the 60s are still bearing fruit. Elvin Jones died of heart failure on May 18, 2004, at age 76. Photograph courtesy of Howard Gitelson
I consider myself lucky to have seen Jones perform with his most recent group, “Jazz Machine,” several times in the past few years on the Dakota stage, and can only wonder what I missed of the master in his prime.
It was fitting that Elvin’s group was the first national act at the new Dakota on Nicollet Mall in October 2003, as no other then-living musician so epitomized the transition from past to present to future. It was unfortunate that one of the Strib’s infrequent reviews of local jazz was Jim Meyer’s “New Dakota Shines, Elvin Jones Doesn’t” (October 29). Jones deserved better, not only for what he had contributed to the music over time, but because anyone, even Elvin Jones himself, would find him a hard act to follow. The sold-out crowds did not stand and cheer merely out of gratitude for 90 minutes of music or Minnesota Niceness. At 76, Jones showed he still had more energy than most drummers half his age, and his much younger cohorts were dramatic proof of the vitality of mainstream jazz. Whatever decline (if any) was reflected in Jones’ drumming in recent years, he clearly was at the top of the game in promoting young talent.
"His main achievement was the creation of what might be called a circle of sound,” wrote Leonard Feather in the Encyclopedia of Jazz, "a continuum in which no beat of the bar was necessarily indicated by any specific accent, yet the overall feeling became a tremendously dynamic and rhythmically important part of the whole group. Jones moved away from the old concept of swinging toward a newer freedom.”
Throughout his life, Elvin Jones never stopped swinging free, and we still can hear the reverberations. |
Tuesday, 09 February 2010
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