"Philly" Joe Jones

 Born Joseph Rudolph Jones in the city of Philadelphia on July 15, 1923. 

Died August 30^th, 1985

Studied the drums with drummers the likes of Cozy Cole and Charles Wilcoxon, receiving valuable advise from Art Blakey and a then younger Max Roach. 

He established himself as "Philly Joe" Jones, from the name of the city of his birth, to distinguish himself from the mainstay Count Basie’s drummer, Jo Jones. But just as Jo Jones established the rhythm section standard in the 30’s and 40’s, Philly Joe would do the same in the 50’s. 

The two major influences that have shaped Philly Joe’s career was his work with Tadd Dameron in the late 40’s to 1953 and then with Miles Davis from 1952-58.

In 1962 there was a sharp decline in Jones’ career. He was ignored and almost forgotten. One reason was a drummer named Elvin Jones with John Coltrane’s quartet, who stole some of the limelight. Perhaps this the reason that Jones moved to England in 1968. There he made his mark as a teacher, tremendously improving the local talent. He eventually returned to the New York and west coast jazz scene, however lost from the forefront of it all. He did work regularly in his home town of Philadelphia. In 1977 he cut an LP for the Sonet label: Mean What You Say, an good eample of latter-day bebop.

Jones, in the 80’s, formed Dameronia, a group dedicated to playing original recordings of Tadd Dameron’s music. This resulted in two Uptown label LPs in 82 and 84 which were well received by critics. However on August 30^th, 1985, his electrifying solos would be no more as he passed away of a heart attack in his home in "Philly."