Simply put, jazz drumming eras could arguably be viewed as pre-Papa and post- Papa. Such was the immeasurable contribution of Jo Jones, whose elegant touch, feel, and sound marked a connecting bridge to our modern sense of jazz swing.   Jonathan David Samuel Jones was born in 1911 in Chicago, where he was captivated by the dancers and drummers of vaudeville shows and traveling circuses. By age thirteen, he’d jumped aboard the vaudeville circuit as a singing, dancing, and drumming triple threat. Here, the vivacious performer learned enduring lessons of showmanship. Through the late ’20s the youngster traveled with Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the Bennie Moten Orchestra. Recording his first sides in 1931 with Lloyd Hunter’s Serenaders, Jones was already showing a deft, organic approach to the kit, as opposed to the more clunky “traps” style common in the day. Advertisement Joining pianist Count Basie’s band in 1934 in […]

February 2013 Issue