'Revival' captures drummer Elvin Jones as a nascent bandleader finding his voice

  • 📰 NPR
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 84 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 37%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

A previously unreleased live recording from 1967 finds Elvin Jones — an iconic jazz drummer — outside the spotlight in a small New York club, assessing his next steps at a pivotal moment in his career, our critic writes.

in 1968."He added another drummer, and I couldn't hear what I was doing any longer. There was too much going on, and it was getting ridiculous as far as I was concerned." Now, we view Jones as one of the greatest drummers in the history of jazz. But in '66, he was eagerly assessing his next steps, trying to build a solo career after years of being a sideman for stalwarts like Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis.

Jones took up residency at Pookie's Pub — a small venue in Lower Manhattan about a block up from the Holland Tunnel — in June, just a month before Coltrane's death. He even showed up to a couple of gigs to check out Jones in his new leadership role. Perhaps on purpose then, the music felt resurgent, the sound of a nascent bandleader finding his voice at the helm.

Jones played at Pookie's Pub until the end of 1967, then left to start performing at the more-established Village Vanguard and another spot called the Dom. Few people knew — or, sadly, cared — that he was performing at Pookie's initially; but, by the time he left, the bar and the residency had secured media coverage, which led to bigger opportunities in the city and overseas. The songs"Raunchy Rita" and"M.E.

After his residency, Jones returned to sideman duties for Tyner, pianist Jaki Byard and saxophonist Lee Konitz before assembling a trio with Farrell and Garrison to release the albumson Blue Note Records. Then in the '70s, he formed the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, an ever-changing collective of young and established players that performed various styles of jazz over the course of its existence.

We don't get all of this without his time at Pookie's Pub, an era unknown to many that's now getting its proper due. While it's perhaps too easy to shrug off the venue as inadequate for someone of Jones' stature, it should be celebrated for offering a lifeline when he needed it most. At a time when public interest in jazz waned as funk and psych-rock took off, the pub gave Jones space to experiment without pressure.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 96. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

See how far Pokémon Go creator Niantic’s AR gaming ambitions have comeNew hardware, new software, new AR experiences. First … until someone walks into traffic… Really excited to see where this goes, I feel a lot of people are sleeping on AR for gaming as most of the focus seems to be on VR! Exciting times ahead!
Source: verge - 🏆 94. / 67 Read more »

San Antonio's marianchi festival makes some big changes this yearThe death in February of longtime festival leader Rubén Fuentes played a role in the name change.
Source: ExpressNews - 🏆 519. / 51 Read more »

Brazil’s new president vows a new day for the AmazonIn two appearances, da Silva laid out a vision for management of the world’s largest rainforest, critical to fighting climate change, that was in stark contrast to that of President Jair Bols…
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »

Illinois reports 2,186 new COVID cases, 14 new deathsIllinois reported 2,186 new COVID cases and 14 new deaths Wednesday.Chicago's top doc is warning that low booster rates could lead to a new variant. 💉Schaumburg ... get vaccinated ;-) Who cares - we have up to date boosters available and it's up to people to choose to get them. People also die of all kinds of things for which we have remedies. Will there be a new lockdown because we did survive omicron
Source: ABC7Chicago - 🏆 284. / 63 Read more »

New police presence in subway not making all MTA workers feel safer - New York Amsterdam NewsGov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams in late October rolled out an expanded subway safety campaign, which beefed up the NYPD presence in the system through 1,200 daily overtime officer shifts, assigned MTA Police officers to stations connected to commuter rail hubs, and added on-train announcements.
Source: NYAmNews - 🏆 269. / 63 Read more »

Airbnb rolls out mandatory guest verification and anti-party techAirbnb is cracking down on party bookings and identity verification These are good things. Yup this will backfire
Source: verge - 🏆 94. / 67 Read more »