Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.
Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded. Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995. In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz." He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
Early life
Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to parents Henry and Olivia Jones, who had moved to Michigan from Vicksburg, Mississippi. His elder brothers were pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones, both highly regarded musicians. By age two he said drums held a special fascination for him. He would watch the circus parades go past his home as a child, and was particularly excited by the marching band drummers.
Following this early passion, Elvin joined his high school's black marching band, where he developed his foundation in rudiments. Jones served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949. With his mustering-out pay (and an additional $35 borrowed from his sister), Jones purchased his first drumset.
Career
1949–1960
Jones began his professional career in 1949 with a short-lived gig in a club on Detroit's Grand River Street. Eventually he went on to play with artists including Billy Mitchell and Wardell Gray. In 1955, after a failed audition for the Benny Goodman band, he found work in New York City, joining Miles Davis and Charles Mingus for their Blue Moods album on Mingus's co-owned Debut label. During the late 1950s, Jones was a member of the Sonny Rollins trio that recorded most of the album A Night at the Village Vanguard, an album cited as a high point for both Rollins and for 1950s jazz in general.
1960–1966: Association with John Coltrane
In 1960, he began playing with John Coltrane. By 1962, he had become an integral member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet along with bassist Jimmy Garrison and pianist McCoy Tyner. Jones and Coltrane would often play extended duet passages. This band is widely considered to have redefined "swing" (the rhythmic feel of jazz), in much the same way that Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and others had done during earlier stages of jazz's development. Jones said of that period playing with Coltrane: "Every night when we hit the bandstand—no matter if we'd come five hundred or a thousand miles—the weariness just dropped from us. It was one of the most beautiful things a man can experience. If there is anything like perfect harmony in human relationships, that band was as close as you can come."
Jones stayed with Coltrane until early 1966. By then, Jones was not entirely comfortable with Coltrane's new direction, especially as his polyrhythmic style clashed with the "multidirectional" approach of the group's second drummer, Rashied Ali. "I couldn't hear what was going on... I felt I just couldn't contribute."
Post-Coltrane career
Jones remained active after leaving the Coltrane group, and led several bands in the late 1960s and 1970s that are considered influential groups. Notable among them was a trio formed with saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Joe Farrell and (ex-Coltrane) bassist Jimmy Garrison, with whom he recorded the Blue Note albums Puttin' It Together and The Ultimate. Jones recorded extensively for Blue Note under his own name in the late 1960s and early 1970s with groups that featured prominent as well as up and coming musicians. The two-volume Live at the Lighthouse showcases a 21- and 26-year-old Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman, respectively. Jones also played on many albums of the "modal jazz era", such as The Real McCoy with McCoy Tyner and Speak No Evil with Wayne Shorter.