Jo Jones

One of the most accomplished and influential drummers of the swing era, Jonathan 'Papa Jo' Jones was schooled in Alabama, becoming proficient at playing piano, trumpet and saxophone by the age of ten. Leaving home, he worked as a singer and tap dancer in travelling medicine shows and in vaudeville, eventually taking up drums. During his late teens, he played jazz in territory bands, including Walter Page's 'Blue Devils', Harold Jones' Brownskin Syncopators (1931) and Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders (to 1933). Jones settled in Kansas City by 1934 and became acquainted with Bill Basie, who had not yet changed his moniker to Count Basie. Jones was soon employed as a drummer in Basie's band, on and off until the autumn of 1936, when he became a permanent fixture. Along with Page and Basie, he became an integral part of what was often referred to as the 'All-American Rhythm Section'. An innovative musician, he changed traditional perspectives by favoring the use of brushes and by making the hi hat cymbal, rather than the bass drum, the dominant time keeping instrument at his disposal. Jones remained with Basie until February 1948, a tenure only interrupted by a period of military service between 1944 and 1946. His subsequent free-lance work included nationwide and European tours with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic', as well as stints with smaller swing/bop combos led by Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and Joe Bushkin. During the 1950's and 60's, Jones recorded with Billie Holiday, Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson, and many others. He also regularly performed on the New York club scene, occasionally fronting his own trio. A very literate, articulate individual, Jones had a well-earned reputation for outspokenness and volatility, especially in regard to musicians whom he believed had been elevated without sufficient artistic merit.