Jazz Articles

Willie Jones III: Volume III

by Russ Musto
December 30, 2006

Drummers aren't well-known for leading trio dates with piano and bass accompaniment--Roy Haynes the notable exception--but Willie Jones III is not your typical drummer. Jones, who cut his chops on the West Coast in the cooperative group Black/Note and recorded with Horace Silver's quintet, made a name for himself in New York as a member of Roy Hargrove's band, playing with a deep-grooving swing that belied his youth.

On his first two dates as a leader, Straight Swingin' (2001) and ...