Papa Jo Jones corner

[mjzee]

Has anyone heard his Pablo album?

[AllenLowe]

let us not forget his name change, after the move to Philadelphia -

[AllenLowe]

all seriousness aside, one of the best clips of him playing is The Sound of Jazz -

[Big Al]

let us not forget his name change, after the move to Philadelphia -

Allmusic hasn't forgotten. Seriously.

[paul secor]

Has anyone heard his Pablo album?

Yeah. Haven't listened to it in several years, but I remember liking it.

[zen archer]

I just saw Jammin the blues for the first time ...it comes as an extra in a Bogart film .

who was the drummer that Jo Jones replaces in that film ?

[brownie]

BIG Sidney Catlett!

Jo Jones and Sidney Catlett One of those magic moments in jazz

[Fer Urbina]

My favourite clip (and why BBC don't release their Jazz 625 on DVD I don't know). I love three things: he's all wrists, moves his arms very little; the loud and soft drum-roll; and when seen from the front, how he seems to be completely still, yet you can hear the drums.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19gsn_caravan-jo-jones

F

PS Rest of personnel are Hawk, Harry Edison, Sir Charles Thompson and Jimmy Woode.

[Chuck Nessa]

Spent a long day (and night) in a tv studio with him. Mid-evening he was ready to kill John Hammond (subject of the show). "What the FUCK is this shit!" That's a direct quote. He played like a dream.

The next night he played a club date with Benny Carter that was sublime.

Larry might have been there - I don't remember.

My old friend Wilbur Campbell used to do a high-hat thing in tribute to Jo.

[Shrdlu]

I started out on hard bop and bebop, and didn't get into Jo until much later, though I did see him at Ronnie Scott's with Milt Buckner in about 1973.

When I DID get to hear him properly, with the Count and on those terrific Buck Clayton Columbia jam sessions, well, he just knocked me out. That sound, especially the "All American Rhythm Section", is hard to beat, and very addictive. When you hear some of that, you get to where it's the only rhythm feel that you want to hear, for awhile. He's just one of the incomparable greats!

Check out the quartet Basie items for Decca - Red Wagon etc. Those go down real smooth! It kinda teases you, because it's so understated.

In the pics for the Mosaic of those Buck Clayton sessions, one thing really struck me: Jo has so little kit there, yet says so much. Compare with some of the megalomanaic rock drummers with a truckload of stuff (their setup looking like a forest) and not saying diddly!

I wonder if he really hurled a cymbal at Bird.

[mmilovan]

Jo has so little kit there, yet says so much. Compare with some of the megalomanaic rock drummers with a truckload of stuff (their setup looking like a forest) and not saying diddly!

That really is huge satisfaction everytime I look at jazz drummer.

Edited March 29, 2007 by mmilovan

[Larry Kart]

Spent a long day (and night) in a tv studio with him. Mid-evening he was ready to kill John Hammond (subject of the show). "What the FUCK is this shit!" That's a direct quote. He played like a dream.

The next night he played a club date with Benny Carter that was sublime.

Larry might have been there - I don't remember.

My old friend Wilbur Campbell used to do a high-hat thing in tribute to Jo.

Think I was around for some of the Hammond thing -- if so, I mostly remember the toxic presence of Mr. McDonough, who was understandably and alternately both slavish and full of himself. Benny Goodman was there, right? And Bob Dylan was or was expected to show? If so, what a brew. The Carter club date is tantilizingly on the edge of memory, but I can't say for sure.

Wilbur used to say "Old Man Jo Jones" (with a reminiscent "I still can't believe it" warmth of tone in his voice) rather than Papa Jo Jones -- the way you might refer to the god Apollo if you'd happened to have seen him eat breakfast. Wilbur said that hearing the vintage Basie band (probably at the Regal Theatre) was what made him want to play drums rather than bass (his plan after he'd heard Blanton with Ellington on "Jack the Bear" and "Pitter Panther Patter"). "He used to," said Wilbur, "make the sock cymbals breathe."

Edited March 29, 2007 by Larry Kart

[Big Al]

My favourite clip (and why BBC don't release their Jazz 625 on DVD I don't know). I love three things: he's all wrists, moves his arms very little; the loud and soft drum-roll; and when seen from the front, how he seems to be completely still, yet you can hear the drums.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19gsn_caravan-jo-jones

F

PS Rest of personnel are Hawk, Harry Edison, Sir Charles Thompson and Jimmy Woode.

Holy shit, I was wrong: that is one menacing mischievious grin if I ever saw one!

[Shrdlu]

Hey, Fer Urbina! Thanks a million for posting that link to the Daily Motion site!

What a treasure trove of jazz videos! Each video links to tons of others. You could spend weeks there! (It's a YouTube type of site.)

Everyone: get over there right now! (Before Viacom or Langley, VA, shuts the site down, ha, ha!)

As well as the clip with Jo Jones and Bean, which is superb, I just saw such things as Trane with Getz, Bean with Bird, and others. Where has all this stuff been hidden all these years? We were told that the only footage of Bird was that old clip of "Hot House". Not so!

And, finally, I got to see the entire "So What" on CBS, after just seeing parts of it every now and then.

Got to make dinner, or I would still be there.

[Spontooneous]

Is there any more perfect drum performance on record than Jo on "Tickle Toe"?

[brownie]

Papa Jo's drumming was masterful. One of my favorite session with him is on the Lester Young album on Verve 'Pres and Teddy'. No showmanship there (nothing against it) but just the right support!

[Big Al]

Papa Jo's drumming was masterful. One of my favorite session with him is on the Lester Young album on Verve 'Pres and Teddy'. No showmanship there (nothing against it) but just the right support!

You bet!!! That and the companion album JAZZ GIANTS '56!