Post by Bret Walker on May 19, 2004 8:30:22 GMT -5
Elvin Jones, a renowned drummer and member of the John Coltrane Quartet, died Tuesday in a New Jersey hospital of heart failure. He was 76. Jones' powerful, complex playing helped changed the role of the drummer in jazz groups and influenced a generation of rockers, including The Doors, the Grateful Dead and Santana. NPR's Renee Montagne has a remembrance.
To hear the NPR audio-article about Elvin Jones, Click here.
On a personal note, Elvin Jones was one of the drummers who inspired me early in my drumming career. Whereas I cut my jazz teeth on drumming legends such as Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, it was Elvin Jones who demonstrated to me the power of a drummer as more than just a time-keeper, but as an instrumental soloist in his own right. I haven't listened to any of his stuff in years, but something tells me I'm gonna dig up some of my Coltrane albums tonight and just remember Elvin the way he'd want to be remembered.
To hear the NPR audio-article about Elvin Jones, Click here.
On a personal note, Elvin Jones was one of the drummers who inspired me early in my drumming career. Whereas I cut my jazz teeth on drumming legends such as Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, it was Elvin Jones who demonstrated to me the power of a drummer as more than just a time-keeper, but as an instrumental soloist in his own right. I haven't listened to any of his stuff in years, but something tells me I'm gonna dig up some of my Coltrane albums tonight and just remember Elvin the way he'd want to be remembered.
