Elvin Jones said “Playing is not something I do at night. It’s my function in life.” He became interested in drumming at age 2, and by age 13 he was practicing 8-10 hours a day. Jones grew up in a musical family in which two brothers, Hank Jones (pianist) and Thad Jones (trumpet), also became famed jazz artists. Before moving to New York, Jones played at a Detroit’s Bluebird Inn where he accompanied all the jazz greats who passed through, as he later did in New York, before his close association with John Coltrane. To my ears, his drumming more … Continue reading Jazz Birthday: Elvin Jones (1927)