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Studies in Style: Part 1

Philly Joe JonesThe "perfect combinat ion of Blakey 's unquenchable f i re,

Catle t t ' s melodiousness, and Roach's subt le ty "—s uch is MD's de-scription of Phil ly Joe Jones. Joe was al l of the above, and more,on the 1958 album , Milestones, w i th Miles Davis, Cannonbal l Ad-derley, John Col t rane, Red Garland and P aul Chambers, crea t ingmany moods ranging from the cool "Miles," to the fiery "TwoBass Hit."

The most noticeable aspect of Joe's playing is an incrediblystrong and consistent right hand. His cymbal rhythm is alwayspowerful, accurate, and dead center in an almost exact 12/8 inter-pretat ion:

by Howard I. Joines

The strength of Joe's ride cymbal is even more apparent on "Dr.Jekyll ." The hi-hat 's absence is noticeable only upon close listen-ing. I t st i l l swings! Furthermore, Joe has such dynamic controlover his cymb al tha t he's able to ride over every bass solo witho utcovering Paul Chamber's efforts.

Against his strong cymbal, Joe usually places his hi-hat on theconvent ional two and four . However , when comping, he of tenuses his hi-hat independent of the ride cymbal. During the basssolo on "Sid's Ahea d," Joe plays a syncopated triplet figure on th ehi-hat: (Ex. 2)

Joe uses the snare and bass drum ind epen dently in co mping. Theride rhythm usually remains unchanged, despite the actions of theleft  hand or  r i g h t  foot .  A   favori te  device,  used  in  "Sid's Ahead,"

"Billy Boy" and "Straight, No Chaser," is tripl ets against the riderhythm: .

Joe's solo style is extre me ly musica l and tech nica lly excit in g. Inthe follow ing transcr iption of "fours," notice Joe's penchant forrepeating figures, lending un ity to the entir e solo. Also, notice hisfrequ ent use of cross-rh ythm s, his indepen dent use of drum s, cym-bals, and hi-hat, his mixtures of duple and triple rhythms, and hisuse of colors.

Ex. 4 "Fours" with Red Gar land

Ex. I

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Ex.3

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