Jazz Articles about Jo Jones

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Phil Schaap: A Life in Jazz

by Daniel Gould
July 28, 2026

Phil Schaap, a jazz historian, radio host, record producer, archivist, six-time Grammy Award winner, and 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, called himself “a Johnny Appleseed through the transmitter." Of course, the subject of his proselytizing was jazz, and few did it as long, or through so many different media--broadcasting, teaching, audio engineering, and sound preservation--as did Philip Van Noorden Schaap. Schaap was born April 8, 1951, and raised in the Hollis section of Queens, New York. ...

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Paul Quinichette: Like Basie

by C. Andrew Hovan
March 20, 2023

Like any business concerned with making a profit, the record industry has often resorted to questionable concepts, tributes, or other hooks to lure more costumers to their product. Currently we find ourselves in an era where the quality of original music is arguably on the decline, thus it has become even more prevalent to use nostalgia as a selling point. While ghost bands and one-off tributes may be a way to bring a new audience to the music of some ...

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Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones

by David A. Orthmann
February 18, 2012

Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo JonesAs told to Albert Murray. Edited by Paul Devlin.200 pagesISBN:978-0-8166-7301-8University of Minnesota Press2011Rifftide is a slim volume subtitled The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones. Best known for his long tenure with the Count Basie Orchestra, Papa Jo Jones is arguably the most influential drummer in the history of jazz. Throughout the book, Jones speaks with absolute certainty. His ...

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Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones

by AAJ Staff
November 1, 2011

This article appears in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones By Papa Jo Jones As Told to Albert Murray (University of Minnesota Press, 2011). A Different Kind of Living in That Southwest Here is what happened. Basie did exactly what Fats Waller did: all the guys that come under James P. Johnson, you know what I mean, and Willie “The Lion" Smith, they stayed playing that Harlem ...

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Paul Quinichette & His Basie-ites: Like Basie

by Nic Jones
December 5, 2006

Like Basie has already seen the light of day in the CD era as an OJC release, but given its qualities, its reappearance here is welcome anyway. Paul Quinichette's career was perhaps more dogged than aided by the lazy “Vice-Pres" tag that was placed upon him because of his stylistic allegiance to Lester Young. As ever the details of the matter were somewhat different. His work was in fact rhythmically far less oblique, whilst the timbre of his playing was ...

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Jo Jones: The Everest Years

by David Rickert
May 26, 2005

Jo Jones's reputation rests solely on his stint with Count Basie, but that's like saying that Humphrey Bogart is known only for his acting. Jones, along with Freddie Green, Walter Page, and Basie, virtually invented the concept of swing. As a unit, they powered the Basie band through a series of top-notch records. But what did Jones do after that?

For one thing, he recorded a few albums as a leader. These sessions, done for the Everest label ...