Elvin Ray Jones was born on September 9, 1927, and died on May 18, 2004. He was an American jazz drummer from the post-bop era. He is most known for being part of John Coltrane's quartet, a group he worked with from late 1960 to late 1965. During this time, he played on albums such as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension, and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones formed his own trio and later led larger groups called The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers, Hank and Thad, were also famous jazz musicians. Elvin sometimes recorded music with them. In 1995, he was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. In The History of Jazz, jazz historian Ted Gioia called Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz." He was also ranked number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time."

Early life and education

Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to Henry and Olivia Jones, who moved to Michigan from Vicksburg, Mississippi. His older brothers were pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones, who were well-known musicians. When he was two years old, he became very interested in drums. As a child, he enjoyed watching circus parades pass by his home and was especially excited by the drummers in the marching band. Because of this early interest, Elvin joined his high school's black marching band, where he learned the basic drumming techniques.

Career

Jones served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949. Using his final pay from the army (and an extra $35 borrowed from his sister), Jones bought his first drum set.

Jones started his professional career in 1949 with a short job at a club on Detroit’s Grand River Street. Later, he played with musicians such as Billy Mitchell and Wardell Gray. In 1955, after not being chosen to join the Benny Goodman band, he moved to New York City and worked with Miles Davis and Charles Mingus on their Blue Moods album for Mingus’s Debut label. In the late 1950s, Jones was part of the Sonny Rollins trio that recorded most of the album A Night at the Village Vanguard, a recording often praised as a major achievement in 1950s jazz.

In 1960, Jones began playing with John Coltrane. By 1962, he became a key member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet, which included bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner. Jones and Coltrane often played long sections where only the two musicians performed together. This group is widely believed to have changed the way jazz rhythms were played, similar to how earlier musicians like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker influenced jazz. Jones described his time with Coltrane as a deeply meaningful experience: “Every night when we performed, no matter how far we had traveled, the tired feeling left us. It was one of the most beautiful things a person can experience. If there is anything like perfect harmony in human relationships, that band came close.”

Jones remained with Coltrane until early 1966. By then, Jones felt uncomfortable with Coltrane’s new musical direction, especially because Coltrane’s complex rhythms did not match the style of the group’s second drummer, Rashied Ali. “I couldn’t hear what was happening… I felt I just couldn’t contribute,” Jones said.

After leaving Coltrane’s group, Jones stayed active in music and led several influential bands in the late 1960s and 1970s. One notable group included saxophonist Joe Farrell and bassist Jimmy Garrison, with whom he recorded the Blue Note albums Puttin’ It Together and The Ultimate. Jones made many recordings for Blue Note during the late 1960s and early 1970s with groups that included both famous and emerging musicians. The two-volume Live at the Lighthouse features young musicians Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman. Jones also played on albums from the “modal jazz era,” such as The Real McCoy with McCoy Tyner and Speak No Evil with Wayne Shorter.

Starting in the early 1980s, Jones performed and recorded with his own group, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, which changed members over time. In the early 1990s, saxophonists Sonny Fortune and Ravi Coltrane (John Coltrane’s son) played with the Jazz Machine. They performed together on the 1991 album In Europe on Enja Records. Jones’s final recording as a band leader, The Truth: Heard Live at the Blue Note, was made in 1999 and released in 2004. It featured a larger version of his Jazz Machine, including musicians such as Antoine Roney (sax), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Darren Barrett (trumpet), Carlos McKinney (piano), Gene Perla (bass), and guest saxophonist Michael Brecker. In 1990 and 1992, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine performed with Wynton Marsalis at The Bottom Line in New York. One of Jones’s last recordings was a collaboration with his brother, pianist Hank Jones, and bassist Richard Davis on the album Autumn Leaves, released under the name The Great Jazz Trio.

Other musicians who worked with Jones during this time included baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, tenor saxophonists George Coleman and Frank Foster, trumpeter Lee Morgan, bassist Gene Perla, keyboardist Jan Hammer, and the jazz-world music group Oregon.

In 1969, Jones played drums for beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s 1970 album Songs of Innocence and Experience, a musical version of William Blake’s poetry collection.

Jones appeared as the villain Job Cain in the 1971 musical Western film Zachariah, where he performed a drum solo after winning a saloon gunfight.

Jones taught regularly and often gave lessons, performed in schools, and held free concerts in prisons. His lessons focused on music history and drumming techniques. In 2001, Jones received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.

Death

Elvin Jones passed away from heart failure in Englewood, New Jersey, on May 18, 2004. He was survived by his first wife, Shirley, his children Elvin Nathan Jones and Rose-Marie Jones, and his second common-law wife, Keiko Okuya.

Influence

Elvin Jones's ability to control timing, play multiple rhythms at once, adjust volume, create unique sounds, and use smooth, connected phrases helped make the drumset a central part of the music. In a 1970 article from Life Magazine, Albert Goldman called Jones "the world's greatest rhythm drummer." His style influenced many famous drummers, such as Christian Vander (Magma), Mitch Mitchell (whom Jimi Hendrix called "my Elvin Jones"), Ginger Baker, Bill Bruford, John Densmore (The Doors), Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls and Violent Femmes) (for whom Elvin Jones was his main inspiration starting at age 11), Janet Weiss, and Steve Hass.

Filmography

• 1979 A Different Drummer (Rhapsody)
• 1996 Elvin Jones: Jazz Machine (VIEW)
• 1971 Zachariah, directed by George Englund