Philly Joe Jones

A fiery drummer and a masterful accompanist, Philly Joe Jones came to fame as a key member with the first classic <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis Quintet</a>. After serving in the Army, he moved to New York in 1947, became the house drummer at Cafe Society and played with a who's who of bop (including <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0w2MvntXz3P5Ko3oslGJoG">Fats Navarro</a>). He worked regularly with <a href="spotify:artist:34W7ZCX0LZeJd8q6boKGOk">Ben Webster</a>, Joe Morris, <a href="spotify:artist:2SJ9t86XCfdJnyoMgAtPU1">Tiny Grimes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2PjgZkwAEk7UTin4jP6HLP">Lionel Hampton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4w8eKJO83kKgKRLbMKM2zB">Tadd Dameron</a> (1953). Jones was with <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a> during 1955-1958, including the quintet years (1955-1956) with <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:35iymrFS4VnsKn35ebHKX9">Red Garland</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0M1UOBJZ9tcKJbrbnVlHZG">Paul Chambers</a> and the beginnings of the super sextet that also included <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a> (recording the classic Milestones album). In 1958, he started leading his own groups, recording for Riverside (1958-1959) and Atlantic (1960). Jones lived in London and Paris during 1967-1972 (performing and recording with some avant-garde players, including <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Archie Shepp</a>). He eventually returned to Philadelphia, where he led a fusion group, <a href="spotify:artist:0zCkQ3h4wekSYSJRpe3rcr">Le Grand Prix</a>, toured with <a href="spotify:artist:4jXfFzeP66Zy67HM2mvIIF">Bill Evans</a> during 1976, recorded for Galaxy in 1977 and 1979, and worked with <a href="spotify:artist:35iymrFS4VnsKn35ebHKX9">Red Garland</a>. Starting in 1981, he led the group <a href="spotify:artist:7DGzbNWhjJM0SQiQ2wrhnz">Dameronia</a>, which revived <a href="spotify:artist:4w8eKJO83kKgKRLbMKM2zB">Tadd Dameron</a>'s music. But in reality, everything that Philly Joe Jones did after <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a> was anticlimactic. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi