WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome in. Pull up a chair, grab your coffee, 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.980 and get comfortable because today we are setting 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.320 out on a really fantastic mission. We really 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.179 are. It's great to be here. It is great to have 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:11.279 you sitting down with us. We are taking a deep 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:15.179 dive into the life, the career, and the honestly 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:19.780 incredibly rare adaptability of a legendary American 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:22.719 jazz drummer. Oh, yeah. We're exploring the world 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:26.670 of Joseph Rudolph Jones. better known to history 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:29.149 as Philly Joe Jones. Which is a brilliant subject 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:32.090 for us to explore today. We're tracing his journey 00:00:32.090 --> 00:00:35.549 using a highly detailed biographical and discographical 00:00:35.549 --> 00:00:39.109 Wikipedia entry, one that meticulously maps his 00:00:39.109 --> 00:00:42.469 life in this just massive body of work from 1923 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:45.490 all the way to 1985. It seems as this fascinating 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:48.210 lens, not just into one man, but into the evolution 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:51.350 of an entire American art form. Absolutely. But 00:00:51.350 --> 00:00:52.890 before we really get rolling, I want to pull 00:00:52.890 --> 00:00:54.679 a crucial clarification straight from the top 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:57.240 of our source material because uh if you find 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:59.880 yourself at a trivia night or talking music with 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:01.880 a jazz aficionado you have to be careful well 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:04.799 the name makes up yes exactly you do not want 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.140 to confuse philly joe jones with another prominent 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:11.540 jazz drummer named joe jones no you do not they're 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:13.439 completely different musicians with entirely 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:15.760 different styles you always have to remember 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.920 the philly part It might seem like, I don't know, 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.700 a minor detail to an outsider, but in the context 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:23.659 of mid -century jazz history, mixing up those 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:26.359 two is a really quick way to derail a conversation. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:28.519 Okay, let's unpack this because I want to start 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:30.879 by posing a question directly to you, the listener. 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:34.000 Think about the musicians who completely shattered 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.579 the mold of modern sound. The real pioneers. 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:39.719 Right. What exactly does it take to become the 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.099 all -time favorite drummer of both Miles Davis 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:45.180 and Bill Evans? I mean, being the drummer of 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:47.379 choice for even one of those men would cement 00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:50.280 your legacy forever. But to be the favorite of 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.379 both, that suggests a level of musical intelligence 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:56.760 that goes far beyond simply keeping good time. 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:00.019 It implies a profound psychological understanding 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:01.939 of the musicians you're actually playing with. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:05.150 And his foundation for that understanding. comes 00:02:05.150 --> 00:02:07.890 from a really surprising place. You might assume 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:10.969 someone with that level of rhythmic mastery was 00:02:10.969 --> 00:02:13.669 born holding drumsticks in Philadelphia in 1923, 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:16.889 right? You'd think so. But, according to our 00:02:16.889 --> 00:02:19.069 source, before he ever sat behind a drum kit, 00:02:19.229 --> 00:02:22.210 he was a featured child tap dancer. Which is 00:02:22.210 --> 00:02:24.750 just wild to think about. He actually performed 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:27.629 on a radio program called The Kitty Show on the 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:30.229 Philadelphia station WIP. What's fascinating 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:33.229 here is how directly the mechanics of tap dancing 00:02:33.229 --> 00:02:36.050 translate to the philosophy of jazz drumming. 00:02:36.090 --> 00:02:39.090 Oh, totally. Both disciplines are highly physical 00:02:39.090 --> 00:02:41.889 expressions of rhythm. As a tap dancer, your 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:44.229 feet are essentially the sticks and the floor 00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:46.590 is your drum head. You aren't just reacting to 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:49.509 the band. Your entire body is engaged in creating 00:02:49.509 --> 00:02:51.939 the rhythm. I want to pause on that for a second, 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:53.560 just for listeners who might not be musicians 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:56.860 themselves. How does moving your feet on a stage 00:02:56.860 --> 00:02:59.719 translate to that specific adaptability on a 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:01.860 drum kit years later? It really comes down to 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:05.219 internalizing syncopation. Syncopation, in the 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:07.960 simplest terms, is when you emphasize the offbeats, 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:11.000 those unexpected moments in a measure of music, 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:14.000 rather than the predictable steady pulse. Right, 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.919 the groove. Exactly. When you tap dance, you 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.039 have to physically place your body weight into 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.259 those offbeats. Internalizing that feeling as 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:25.340 a child likely built the bedrock of his incredibly 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:28.560 responsive ear. He learned early on how rhythm 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.939 interacts with open space. So following his timeline 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:34.460 forward, that childhood foundation gets put on 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:36.560 hold while he serves in the U .S. Army during 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.180 World War II. Right. But shortly after, we hit 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:42.280 a massive turning point. In 1947, he becomes 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:44.340 the house drummer at Cafe Society in New York 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:46.740 City. For those who aren't familiar with the 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:49.180 geography of jazz history, what did it mean to 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:51.300 be the house drummer at that specific venue? 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.419 Well, Cafe Society was a vital incubator for 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:56.699 modern music at that time. Being the house drummer 00:03:56.699 --> 00:03:59.319 meant you were the rhythmic anchor for a constantly 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.780 rotating cast of musicians. No pressure, right. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:03.879 Right. You had to be ready for literally whatever 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.319 walked through the door on any given night. And 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:08.439 the people walking through the door were the 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:11.419 architects of bebop. He's playing alongside pioneers, 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.919 including the great composer Tad Dameron. But 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.180 let's clarify what that environment actually 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:21.439 demanded. How does playing bebop behind Tad Dameron 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.639 differ from the big band swing music that came 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.259 before it? Think of the big band era like a meticulously 00:04:28.259 --> 00:04:31.100 rehearsed Broadway play. Okay. Everyone has a 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:33.899 specific script and the drummer's job is mostly 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:36.100 to keep the tempo moving so people can dance. 00:04:36.589 --> 00:04:39.329 Bebop, on the other hand, is like an improv comedy 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:41.970 troupe operating at lightning speed. I love that 00:04:41.970 --> 00:04:44.389 comparison. The tempos are frantic, the chord 00:04:44.389 --> 00:04:46.870 changes are incredibly complex, and the goal 00:04:46.870 --> 00:04:49.370 isn't to make people dance. It's to push intellectual 00:04:49.370 --> 00:04:52.230 boundaries. To survive on that stage, you have 00:04:52.230 --> 00:04:54.850 to listen and react in real time to musicians 00:04:54.850 --> 00:04:57.550 who are actively trying to surprise you. Which 00:04:57.550 --> 00:05:00.310 brings us to a line in our source that I think 00:05:00.310 --> 00:05:03.230 defines his entire legacy. It notes that Philly 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:05.949 Joe Jones was known for his ability to adjust 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:08.589 his style of playing to allow for any group or 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:11.310 individual's needs. That is a profound observation. 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:14.709 It requires setting aside your ego. Many technically 00:05:14.709 --> 00:05:16.970 gifted musicians want to dominate the room to 00:05:16.970 --> 00:05:19.870 prove their skill. Jones used his technical skill 00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:22.149 to serve the immediate needs of the soloist. 00:05:22.329 --> 00:05:24.110 Here's where it gets really interesting because 00:05:24.110 --> 00:05:26.810 that specific trait lands him in one of the most 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:30.230 famous lineups in music history. From 1955 to 00:05:30.230 --> 00:05:33.730 1958, he tours and records with the Miles Davis 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:37.110 Quintet. A legendary run. Truly. You have Miles 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:40.110 Davis on trumpet, Red Garland on piano, John 00:05:40.110 --> 00:05:43.209 Coltrane on sax, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly 00:05:43.209 --> 00:05:45.870 Joe Jones on drums. That is just an astonishing 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.089 collection of individual voices, and we should 00:05:48.089 --> 00:05:49.910 probably add some context about Miles Davis himself. 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:52.310 Oh, for sure. He was notoriously demanding and 00:05:52.310 --> 00:05:54.670 incredibly difficult to please. He was known 00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:56.889 for discarding musicians the moment they stopped 00:05:56.889 --> 00:05:59.389 serving his vision. Yet, our sources are very 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:03.050 explicit about how Davis felt about Jones. Davis 00:06:03.050 --> 00:06:05.329 stated in his autobiography that Jones was his 00:06:05.329 --> 00:06:07.290 favorite drummer and went so far as to say he 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:09.589 would always listen for Jones and other drummers. 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.730 High praise. And Bill Evans echoed that sentiment 00:06:12.730 --> 00:06:15.649 entirely. But tell me how that works mechanically. 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.050 What was he doing differently behind the kit 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:20.509 for John Coltrane compared to what he was doing 00:06:20.509 --> 00:06:22.750 for Red Garland? Let's look at the genres the 00:06:22.750 --> 00:06:26.009 source lists him navigating. Bebop, hard bop, 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:29.610 cool jazz and modal jazz. These require entirely 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.259 different philosophies of playing. Take modal 00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:34.379 jazz, for instance. Let's actually break that 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:36.319 down for the audience. How do you define modal 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.540 jazz to someone who doesn't read sheet music? 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:41.980 Okay, so in bebop, the band is constantly shifting 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.939 through complex, rapid fire chords. It's a very 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:47.939 busy sound. In modal jazz, the band might sit 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:50.680 on one single chord or scale a mode for minutes 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:53.720 at a time. It's spacious. It's atmospheric. When 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:55.860 Jones was playing behind John Coltrane, who was 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:58.759 known for intensely wild, rapid explorations, 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.800 Jones might use heavy sticks. dropping aggressive 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.579 accents on the snare drum to match Coltrane's 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:07.300 fire. So he's pushing the soloist, almost challenging 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:10.079 them. Precisely. But then the moment Red Garland 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.439 starts a piano solo, the texture changes. Garland's 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.160 style was more delicate, built on intricate chordal 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:18.759 structures. A totally different vibe. Exactly. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:22.060 And Jones would instantly pivot. He might switch 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:24.920 to brushes, softening his attack, leaving wide 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:27.240 pockets of silence so Garland's subtle notes 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:30.019 could breathe. He wasn't playing a pre -written 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:32.860 drum part. He was actively shaping the acoustic 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:35.060 environment to fit whoever was speaking at that 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:37.300 moment. I love the analogy of a point guard in 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:39.240 basketball. Oh, that's a great way to look at 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:42.040 it. Right? A great point guard knows that one 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.540 player needs the ball passed high near the rim, 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:46.860 while another player needs it bounced low on 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:49.139 the perimeter. The point guard doesn't just throw 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:51.379 the ball the same way every time. They adapt 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:53.720 the pass to guarantee the other person's scores. 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:56.540 That is a perfect way to visualize it. He was 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:59.019 the ultimate musical point guard. I want you, 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.500 the listener, to think about your own circles 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.519 for a moment, whether it's your workplace, a 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:06.300 project team, or even your family dynamic. How 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:10.160 rare and valuable is that one person who seamlessly 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:13.439 figures out how you work best and just quietly 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.459 adapts their style to help you succeed? It's 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:18.699 incredibly rare. That is what Philly Joe Jones 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.220 was doing, except he was doing it live on stage 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:24.699 alongside musical geniuses. It completely reframes 00:08:24.699 --> 00:08:27.540 how we view a supporting role. He wasn't diminishing 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:29.939 his own voice. He was using his voice to amplify 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:32.919 others. But his career takes a very sudden geographic 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:37.419 detour. Late in 1967, he moves to Europe. From 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:41.200 1967 until 1972, our sources place him living 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.799 in London and Paris, playing with artists like 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:46.879 Archie Shep. Mal Waldron and Hank Mobley. The 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.440 European jazz scene was incredibly fertile ground 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.139 at that time. Many American artists who felt 00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:54.139 constrained creatively or economically in the 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:56.980 States found enthusiastic audiences in places 00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:00.299 like Paris and London. However, the source details 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:02.980 a massive roadblock when he arrived in the UK. 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:06.320 The UK Musicians Union actually prevented him 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.440 from working normal gigging venues. Yeah, that 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:10.419 was a major issue. I struggled to wrap my head 00:09:10.419 --> 00:09:12.340 around that. You have a giant of American music 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:14.960 living in your city, and a union rule keeps him 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.220 out of the clubs. Why would they impose a ban 00:09:17.220 --> 00:09:19.779 like that? It was primarily a protectionist measure. 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:22.960 The UK Musicians Union at the time had very strict 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.320 quotas and rules regarding foreign musicians 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:27.879 designed to ensure that local British musicians 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.299 weren't being pushed out of work by touring Americans. 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:33.799 It was pure bureaucracy clashing with art. So 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.539 he is legally barred from doing the very thing 00:09:36.539 --> 00:09:39.419 that made him famous. But his response to that 00:09:39.419 --> 00:09:44.440 obstacle is brilliant. From 1967 to 1969, he 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.519 pivots entirely to teaching. He becomes an instructor 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:49.799 at a specially organized school in Hampstead, 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:51.940 London. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.240 we see how artificial barriers force influence 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:57.940 into unexpected channels. Because he couldn't 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:00.159 play the standard club circuit every night, He 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.600 became a direct mentor. What does that cross 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:04.860 -cultural exchange actually look like in late 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:08.379 60s London? Think about the era. London in 1968 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:11.340 is undergoing a massive blues and jazz explosion. 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:14.019 You have a generation of young British musicians 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:16.419 trying to understand American music by listening 00:10:16.419 --> 00:10:18.600 to records. And suddenly he's right there. Suddenly, 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.000 the man who actually recorded those records is 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.639 sitting in a room in Hampstead, physically demonstrating 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:26.059 the oral and rhythmic traditions of bebop and 00:10:26.059 --> 00:10:28.779 hard bop. He is passing down the mechanics of 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:32.059 the music directly to the local youth. And he 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:35.019 didn't stop recording entirely. Our source notes 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.799 that in 1968, he recorded an album in London 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.700 called Mojo, which was also released under the 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:44.379 title Trailways Express. A great record. But 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:46.299 because of the union restrictions, he couldn't 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:49.200 just fly in as American contemporaries. He collaborated 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.360 specifically. with local British musicians like 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:56.220 Peter King, Harold McNair, Chris Pine and Kenny 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:59.159 Wheeler. That album. is a fascinating artifact. 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:01.740 It proves his superpower wasn't limited to playing 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:04.460 with Miles Davis. He could walk into a London 00:11:04.460 --> 00:11:06.960 studio with local players who grew up in a completely 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.500 different cultural context, listen to their specific 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:12.200 needs, and elevate them, just as he did in New 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.519 York. It's the ultimate test of that adaptability 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:16.559 we talked about earlier. Whether it's a genre 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.779 shift, a demanding band leader, or an international 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:21.460 labor union band, he finds the gap in the defense 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:24.100 and makes the pass. Which perfectly explains 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:27.259 why his discography is so staggering. Let's talk 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.620 about that discography, because looking at the 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:31.960 list in our source, it is almost difficult to 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:34.279 comprehend the sheer volume of his output. It's 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:36.600 massive. He did release several notable albums 00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:39.679 as a leader. Records like Blues for Dracula in 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:43.620 1958, Drums Around the World in 1959, and Together 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:47.799 with Elvin Jones in 1961. But his list of Sideman 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:50.019 credits reads like the required syllabus for 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:53.159 a university course on mid -century music. The 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:55.679 Sideman credits are where you truly see the scope 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:57.799 of his industry influence. I have to mention 00:11:57.799 --> 00:11:59.799 a few of these just to paint the picture. He 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:03.100 is the drummer on John Coltrane's legendary Blue 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:06.240 Train. He is driving Sonny Rollins' Tenor Madness. 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:08.440 Masterpieces. And then you have his run with 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.100 Miles Davis, the famous prestige in sessions, 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:14.120 cooking, relaxing, working, and steaming. Plus 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:16.240 the Columbia masterworks like Run About Midnight, 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:19.039 Milestones, and Porgy and Bess. And beyond those 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:21.159 giants, the source shows him anchoring sessions 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.879 for Chet Baker, Sonny Clark, Dexter Gordon, art 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:26.539 farmer Freddie Hubbard. It requires an unbelievable 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:29.399 amount of physical and mental stamina to record 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:32.179 that much material at that high a level. Help 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:33.679 me understand the difference in his approach 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.500 on two of those records. If I put on Coltrane's 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:38.399 Blue Train and then followed up immediately with 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:41.320 Davis's Milestones, what am I listening for regarding 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:44.500 his drums? On Blue Train, you are listening to 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.929 him navigate hard bop. It has a heavy... blues 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:50.830 -influenced driving rhythm. You'll hear him dropping 00:12:50.830 --> 00:12:53.190 those aggressive bombs on the bass drum and snare 00:12:53.190 --> 00:12:56.049 to propel Coltrane forward. And on milestones. 00:12:56.429 --> 00:12:58.769 When you switch to milestones, which is famously 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:01.649 a pioneering record for modal jazz, his playing 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:05.080 becomes more about texture. He relies more on 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.440 the ride cymbal to create a wash of sound that 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.559 hovers over the long, drawn -out scales. The 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:12.960 drum kit stops being just a timekeeping device 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:15.519 and becomes an atmospheric instrument. It makes 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.600 complete sense why he was constantly booked. 00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:20.860 If you are a producer or a band leader, you want 00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:22.919 the guy who guarantees everyone else in the room 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:24.539 is going to sound like the best version of themselves. 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:27.220 He was the common denominator of greatness for 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:30.480 an entire era. Moving into his later years, the 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.419 narrative comes to a really beautiful conclusion. 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:35.360 He never stopped touring and playing. In the 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.340 late 70s, around 76 and 78, he is back on the 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:41.059 road touring with Bill Evans. He's laying down 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:44.159 tracks for the Galaxy label. But then in 1981, 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:47.080 he does something deeply nostalgic. He helps 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.799 out a group called Dameronia. A group explicitly 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.960 dedicated to the music of Tad Dameron. That is 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.320 the composer he played behind as the house drummer 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:59.200 at Cafe Society back in 1947. It is a complete 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.259 full circle moment. He ends his career honoring 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:05.299 the very bebop pioneer who was there at the start 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:08.460 of his New York journey. He led Dameronia right 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:10.659 up until the end. It demonstrates a profound 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:13.120 reverence for the lineage of the music. He wasn't 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.139 just moving forward looking for the next modern 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:18.279 sound. He was actively preserving the roots that 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.830 gave him his start. Our source concludes with 00:14:20.830 --> 00:14:23.169 his passing. Philly Joe Jones died of a heart 00:14:23.169 --> 00:14:25.370 attack in his hometown of Philadelphia on August 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:29.570 30th, 1985. He was 62 years old. From a child 00:14:29.570 --> 00:14:32.629 tap dancer on a local radio station to the architectural 00:14:32.629 --> 00:14:34.889 rhythmic foundation of the 20th century's most 00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:38.289 important jazz. So what does this all mean? How 00:14:38.289 --> 00:14:40.950 should we frame a life lived like this? I think 00:14:40.950 --> 00:14:42.789 his life challenges the conventional narrative 00:14:42.789 --> 00:14:45.309 of what it means to be a genius. We are often 00:14:45.309 --> 00:14:47.309 taught that greatness means taking the spotlight. 00:14:47.789 --> 00:14:49.870 dominating the room, and forcing your specific 00:14:49.870 --> 00:14:52.570 vision onto the world. Philly Joe Jones proved 00:14:52.570 --> 00:14:55.190 that true greatness can be found in being the 00:14:55.190 --> 00:14:58.250 adaptive foundation. He possessed the technical 00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:00.909 mastery to overpower any stage he walked onto, 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:04.110 but he actively chose to use that mastery to 00:15:04.110 --> 00:15:07.090 listen, to respond, and to let others flourish. 00:15:07.389 --> 00:15:10.490 He found incredible power in being the ultimate 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:13.389 supporting player. This raises an important question. 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.000 We've spent this time talking about how he molded 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.519 his playing to fit the solos of Davis and Coltrane. 00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:21.440 But consider this. By constantly shifting his 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.399 textures, altering his accents, and manipulating 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:26.200 space to highlight those soloists, did Philly 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:28.519 Joe Jones actually invent the modern drum solo 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.240 by stealth? Oh, wow. He wasn't just keeping time. 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.720 He was composing a counter melody on the fly. 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:36.259 It makes you wonder how often true leadership 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:39.379 means leading from the back. In a culture obsessed 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:41.759 with being the lead singer, how can you practice 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.519 the lost art of leading from the back? the back, 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:46.159 stealthily elevating the people around you today. 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:49.320 That is a brilliant angle to consider. Sometimes 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:51.279 the most important voice in the room is the one 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:53.200 figuring out how to make everyone else sound 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.659 better. Thank you so much for sitting down with 00:15:55.659 --> 00:15:57.860 us for this deep dive. It is an absolute privilege 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.240 to unpack these concepts with you. Take that 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.440 spirit of adaptability into whatever you are 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:04.940 doing today. Keep asking fantastic questions 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:07.700 and most importantly, keep learning. We'll catch 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:08.259 you next time.