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ELVIN JONES


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It hurts to read this. It reminds me of seeing Albert Collins just months before he passed. At the risk of sounding cliched Elvin is moving on but his legend and greatness have been secure for some time. To those who have any degree of familiarity with his music he will always be alive. Elvin indeed rules.

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As long as the man still has life in his frame, sounds like he'll just keep right on drumming. Ever get the feeling that when he plays nowadays, he hears something none of us can?

Then again, I guess that could be said about his entire career........

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Wow, I had missed the info on his poor health before. Very sad. My thoughts go out to Elvin, he looks so gaunt and unlike the hale and hearty person I'm used to seeing in photos.

I have no friggin' idea what Mr. Symphony is talking about - anachronistic drummer? Elvin was and is a giant. One of the handful of drummers that non-drummers can hear and identify INSTANTLY. There have been discussions on him in the past where several of us have talked about what a master he is with brushes, which is not something most people talk about much with Elvin but everyone should check out. Listen to some of the stuff he does on Andrew Hill's JUDGEMENT album for example.

Any non-musicians looking for a way in to his music would do well to read the liners for the JJ Johnson Mosaic box, which have some nice things (including Bobby Jaspar's comments about his take on Elvin's approach, which hit the nail on the head).

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Elvin Jones & I April 2004

.:.impossible: Man, thanks for posting the fantastic picture of you and Elvin. It's VERY cool to have a natural and quite recent photo of you and the man. I believe both of you look healthy and content. Yeah, Elvin looks old. But, what the hell... he is old. I hope I look as good as he when I'm his age. I hope I can keep smiling till I'm 77 years on the planet. If I'd not read the sad stories of Elvin's health in this thread, I'd think he looks good for a man his age. It shows his good character that he had time to meet and speak with you, especially if he's not feeling well.

We, the general public, don't often get to see natural-looking pictures, such as yours, of famous people when they reach Elvin's age. Again, thanks much for posting this picture.

Elvin Jones was the first drummer I really 'heard' when I first started listening to jazz. Such a distinctive, drums all over the place, drums right in your freaking face, yet controlled and precise kind of sound. The best.

Edited by wesbed
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this news is very sad. In the jazz class I TA, we showed a Coltrane documentary DVD (I'm not sure what one it was) we some of the classic Coltrane footage, and I sort of was watching Elvin on screen with almost a deep pain that he might be gone soon.... He's played his heart out (no pun intended) all these years in the most amazing, powerful, sensitive ways. Reading the description in Applebaum's article of Keiko hugging Elvin during "Dear Lord" almost brought tears to my eyes. Earlier I was listening to him on "Unity" and "Speak No Evil", and the live "A Love Supreme" in his honor.

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There are certain players that should just be around FOREVER. You just feel good knowing that they're out there doing their thing somewhere. I feel that way about Elvin, definitely. And Clark Terry. And Ray Charles. And the other Jones, Hank.

I felt that way about Thad. And Blakey. And Miles. We all have our favorite cats.

But Elvin......he has been a part of SO MANY of our "desert island" recordings... Trane....JJ....Larry Young.....his own bands.....etc.- I love my Elvin Mosaic. He's DEFINITELY one of those whose presence on a recording will tip the scales towards purchase.

If he's hurting, I hope his pain ends ASAP. But I will feel a huge hole where he used to be.

Here's to ELVIN JONES!

EDIT: BTW, the groove he plays on Angelica (from Duke&Trane) ALWAYS makes me grin..........

Edited by Free For All
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And Ray Charles.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but a-MEN to that. Strangely enough, the first time I really "got" Ray Charles was when I saw him doing some weird NBC weekend special that featured figure skating to the music Ray and the band played live on the side of the rink. I had to run to the piano to figure out what he was doing posthaste!

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da man:

Sorry, but this painting is inspired by a photo of Grady Tate:

Sorry, the painting is definitely of Elvin.

It was painted by Kevin Neireiter, who has a page at AAJ here (LINK), which clearly labels the painting with the caption: "Elvin Jones: Oil on Canvas 47 inches x 47 inches". Neireiter also has a website, www.jazzlandscapes.com, which also clearly labels the painting as being of Elvin.

Thanks for the correction - my memory falied me here, this was discussed on some other thread here, someone had used that painting as an avatar, and the Grady Tate photo had been posted there.

Great drummers, great photos, great painting, great board, .... all the best for Elvin.

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this may not be the appropriate thread for this, but . . . .

i just picked up a copy of "youngblood" on enja.

elvin is the leader.

the sidemen include joshua redman, javon jackson, nicholas payton and george mraz.

this is a wonderful cd.

it appears to be out of print, so if anyone out there stumbles across it, i would highly recommend picking it up.

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