Rifftide: The Life And Opinions Of Papa Jo Jones

[EKE BBB]

RIFFTIDE: THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF PAPA JO JONES (University of Minnesota Press, October 2011)

Edited and compiled by Paul Devlin from taped conversations that Jo Jones had with writer Albert Murray.

Jazz Lives lukewarm revies

[AllenLowe]

now that I'd like to see - he was nuts but smart/nuts.

[AllenLowe]

people have theorized as to the causes of his craziness - no one seems to mention that he was a pretty bad alcoholic for most of his days. In the '70s they used to take him up to NYU hospital on Henry Street in Brooklyn to dry out, which usually lasted only a few weeks before he'd go back to the the bottle. He also didn't play real well in those days (I saw him 6-7 times) for obvious reasons. Also, all the clips of his later drum solos I find unimpressive - though he was clearly one of the greats. Too many enablers in those days, though it is likely he would have done what he wanted to do no matter what.

Edited November 29, 2011 by AllenLowe

[JSngry]

The Modern Drummer interview he did was truly epic. I don't know if you'd need a book after that.

But...I'm leaning towards getting this, just to see if it's epicer.

[Dan Gould]

And Schaap wrote the Afterward.

Makes it that much easier to skip.

[golfcrazy1984]

The Modern Drummer interview he did was truly epic. I don't know if you'd need a book after that.

But...I'm leaning towards getting this, just to see if it's epicer.

Epicer! I had to stare at that word for some time before getting "it", though this was before my morning coffee.

I think I'll put this on my Christmas list.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Ted O'Reilly]

I don't understand when the "Papa" thing came in with Jo Jones. I never heard that until v-e-r-y much later. If it was to clear up confusion with Philly Joe Jones, it always seemed the "Philly Joe" was enough of a qualifier.

Another thing, re: names that bugs me is calling Ellington "The Duke". Uh-uh. It's just Duke...

[AllenLowe]

let's ask The Chuck Nessa what he thinks.

[marcello]

I bought and read it this weekend.

Sometimes it's hard to follow up all the crazy talk, but the editor does a good job of explaining and guiding you through.

Schaap's piece is fine, though.

[Ted O'Reilly]

let's ask The Chuck Nessa what he thinks.

(Is that like THE Ohio State University, that I hear footballers shout out on their intros?)

[AllenLowe]

did Schaap tell the story about when Jones pulled a knife on a guy at some gymnasium concert? There was also a funny encounter, as Phil told me, with the owner of the West End Cafe.

[JSngry]

On 11/28/2011 at 7:33 AM, JSngry said:

The Modern Drummer interview he did was truly epic. I don't know if you'd need a book after that.

 

But...I'm leaning towards getting this, just to see if it's epicer.

Well, that took a while, but I found a paperback copy at HalfPrice and carpe-diemed.

This motherfucker was everything that life had to offer. Everything. Cats like him and Bird...all things at all times in all places.