Gavin Walker
Mar 25, 2011, 09:40 PM
Tonight we celebrate the birthday of a gentleman who was from a famous Detroit musical family and was known as the "middle brother". Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an illustrious member of the Jones family and had ten brothers and sisters. The whole family was musical but it was Hank (who was the oldest) who established himself as one of the masters of Jazz piano. The youngest was Elvin, who as we all know was one of the most innovative of drummers to emerge in the late 50's and early 60's. Thad was in the middle of these two and was born on March 28, 1923 in Pontiac, Michigan and died in his adopted home town of Copenhagen, Denmark on August 21, 1986 at age 63. Thad, after paying his musical dues in one of the prolific environments, which in the early 50's was the city of Detroit, moved to New York and stunned many people with his originality on the trumpet. With a declarative concept and a brass-proud sound, Thad attracted the praises of many including bassist/composer Charles Mingus who was reported to dislike most trumpeters, except Fats, Dizzy and maybe Miles. Mingus recorded Thad on his Debut label and called Thad "the Bartok of the trumpet" and claimed that Jones was the only true original voice to emerge on that horn since Navarro, Dizzy et al. In May of 1954, Thad Jones made one of the most important decisions of his musical life......he joined Count Basie's great band. This guaranteed Thad a good salary, steady work and recognition. Thad was then able play almost every night and develop his second talent, the one that he is most recognised for.......his writing and arranging. The amazing fact about Thad Jones was that he was entirely self-taught. His time in the Basie band brought him credibility and in early 1956 he was contracted by Blue Note Record's Alfred Lion to do a series of dates, the first of which is tonight's Jazz Feature.
This album is a minor classic as it features both Thad's writing and his incredible trumpet playing. The album is called "Detroit-New York Junction" and has early perfomances by three recent arrivals to New York from Detroit in the persons of guitarist Kenny Burrell, tenor saxophonist Billy Mitchell and pianist Tommy Flanagan. All three plus Thad went on to become household names in Jazz. Tenor saxophonist Mitchell had the lowest profile but went on to become a part of the Dizzy Gillespie Band of the mid-50's and later a strong voice in Basie's band and later still in a fine little band he formed with trombonist Al Grey. The Grey-Mitchell Quintet brought vibist Bobby Hutcherson to New York. Mitchell was affectionately known as "the colossus of Detroit" and we hear him in prime early form with Thad and company. So much for the Detroit connection...the rhythm section was the New York part and it included one of the all-time greatest bassists, Oscar Pettiford and the equally great drummer Shadow Wilson. Two standards make up the five tunes here and three are delightful Jones' compositions. The whole album has a wonderful sense of unity and sounds like a working band thanks to the arranging and organizational abilities of Mr. Jones.
Thad left Basie in 1963 and freelanced in New York before forming with drummer Mel Lewis, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1965. They began performing on Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in February 1966. In the late 70's Thad, to eveyone's chagrin and surprise, left the band and moved to Denmark where he remarried and led his own band called "Eclipse" and wrote extensively for the Danish Radio Big Band. In 1984 he returned to the US and briefly took over the Basie band (after Basie had died) but returned to Copenhagen as his health was declining. He died on August 21, 1986 and is buried in that city. Thad's music set a very high standard on every level and the Feature album is much more than just a promising beginning but a fully realized mature statement. Happy Birthday Mr. Jones!
The Thad Jones Feature will be heard shortly after 11pm (as usual) but opening the show, as a further tribute to Thad's playing chops will be three tunes from Thelonious Monk's recording called "Five By Monk By Five" where Thad's acid toned cornet is added to Monk's Quartet (Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones and Arthur Taylor) and in the opinion of this writer contains some of Jones' most inspired work. The Monk set will open the show right at 9pm so try and make it from the start..............see you then........
This album is a minor classic as it features both Thad's writing and his incredible trumpet playing. The album is called "Detroit-New York Junction" and has early perfomances by three recent arrivals to New York from Detroit in the persons of guitarist Kenny Burrell, tenor saxophonist Billy Mitchell and pianist Tommy Flanagan. All three plus Thad went on to become household names in Jazz. Tenor saxophonist Mitchell had the lowest profile but went on to become a part of the Dizzy Gillespie Band of the mid-50's and later a strong voice in Basie's band and later still in a fine little band he formed with trombonist Al Grey. The Grey-Mitchell Quintet brought vibist Bobby Hutcherson to New York. Mitchell was affectionately known as "the colossus of Detroit" and we hear him in prime early form with Thad and company. So much for the Detroit connection...the rhythm section was the New York part and it included one of the all-time greatest bassists, Oscar Pettiford and the equally great drummer Shadow Wilson. Two standards make up the five tunes here and three are delightful Jones' compositions. The whole album has a wonderful sense of unity and sounds like a working band thanks to the arranging and organizational abilities of Mr. Jones.
Thad left Basie in 1963 and freelanced in New York before forming with drummer Mel Lewis, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1965. They began performing on Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in February 1966. In the late 70's Thad, to eveyone's chagrin and surprise, left the band and moved to Denmark where he remarried and led his own band called "Eclipse" and wrote extensively for the Danish Radio Big Band. In 1984 he returned to the US and briefly took over the Basie band (after Basie had died) but returned to Copenhagen as his health was declining. He died on August 21, 1986 and is buried in that city. Thad's music set a very high standard on every level and the Feature album is much more than just a promising beginning but a fully realized mature statement. Happy Birthday Mr. Jones!
The Thad Jones Feature will be heard shortly after 11pm (as usual) but opening the show, as a further tribute to Thad's playing chops will be three tunes from Thelonious Monk's recording called "Five By Monk By Five" where Thad's acid toned cornet is added to Monk's Quartet (Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones and Arthur Taylor) and in the opinion of this writer contains some of Jones' most inspired work. The Monk set will open the show right at 9pm so try and make it from the start..............see you then........