Jo Jones
Jo Jones shifted the timekeeping role of the drums from the bass drum to the hi-hat cymbal, greatly influencing all swing and bop drummers. Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson were just two musicians who learned from his light but forceful playing, as Jones swung the Count Basie Orchestra with just the right accents and sounds. After growing up in Alabama, Jones worked as a drummer and tap dancer with carnival shows. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in Oklahoma City in the late '20s. After a period with Lloyd Hunter's band in Nebraska, Jones moved to Kansas City in 1933, joining Count Basie's band the following year. He went with Basie to New York in 1936 and with Basie, Freddie Green, and Walter Page, he formed one of the great rhythm sections. Jones was with the Basie band (other than 1944-1946 when he was in the military) until 1948, and in later years, he participated in many reunions with Basie alumni. He was on some Jazz at the Philharmonic tours and recorded in the '50s with Illinois Jacquet, Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, Art Tatum, and Duke Ellington, among others; Jones appeared at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival with both Basie and the Coleman Hawkins-Roy Eldridge Sextet. He led sessions for Vanguard (1955 and 1959) and Everest (1959-1960), a date for Jazz Odyssey on which he reminisced and played drum solos (1970), and mid-'70s sessions for Pablo and Denon. In later years he was known as "Papa" Jo Jones, and thought of as a wise if brutally frank elder statesman.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
Similar artists
Discography
10 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Smiles (1969-1975)
Jazz - Released by Disques Black & Blue on Jul 6, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Jazz Masters
Bebop - Released by Master Classics Records on Jan 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Essential
Jazz - Released by Vanguard Records on Jan 1, 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Everest Years: Jo Jones
Jazz - Released by Legacy International on Aug 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jo Jones and His Orchestra
Bebop - Released by Everest Records on Jul 28, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vamp 'Til Ready
Jazz - Released by Everest Records on Jul 23, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bag & Stones
Alternative & Indie - Released by MUZAI Records on Mar 15, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dream Big - Or Even Bigger
Jazz - Released by nagel heyer records on Dec 12, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
They Can't Take That Away from Me
Jazz - Released by nagel heyer records on Apr 13, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo