BST 84282

Elvin Jones - Puttin' It Toegther

Released - September 1968

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 8, 1968
Joe Farrell, tenor, soprano sax, flute, piccolo; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.

2084 tk.2 Village Green
2085 tk.3 Sweet Little Maia
2086 tk.8 Reza
2087 tk.16 For Heaven's Sake
2088 tk.17 Keiko's Birthday March
2089 tk.24 Gingerbread Boy
2090 tk.27 Jay-Ree

Session Photos

Photos: © Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images 

https://www.mosaicrecordsimages.com/

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Reza	Ruy Guerra, Edu Lobo	April 8 1968
Sweet Little Maia	Jimmy Garrison	April 8 1968
Keiko's Birthday March	Elvin Jones	April 8 1968
Side Two
Village Greene	Billy Greene	April 8 1968
Jay-Ree	Joe Farrell	April 8 1968
For Heaven's Sake	Elise Bretton, Sherman Edwards, Donald Meyer	April 8 1968
Ginger Bread Boy	Jimmy Heath	April 8 1968

Liner Notes

THIS IS a most unusual trio. Each man is not only a strong, imaginative, sensitive musician, he is an adventurer. He has to be because there are no well charted courses for this kind of playing. There is no piano or guitar to lay down a harmonic foundation for solos, no second front line horn to play counter-melodies or harmonic intervals and no second drummer to play "straight" while Elvin soars away on a rhythmic fantasy.

Elvin and Jimmy have worked together as a team for several years and with confidence based on maturity and experiences together while fulfilling the awesome musical demands made on them by John Coltrane, they are at once compelling, perceptive and sensitive players in a rhythm section. As a section they are much more than supporting players, they suggest and urge the soloist into areas of musical exploration and expression that are not only challenging but emotionally rewarding.

Joe Farrell meets the challenge they offer with gusto! A gifted improvisor with both big band and small combo credits which mark him as a musician of distinction. Joe is a tower of strength on tenor saxophone, a highly sophisticated swinger on soprano saxophone, a lyrical melodist on flute, and an irrepressible humorist on piccolo. Because of his flexibility and musicianship Joe is in great demand with groups of many different persuasions — far In — far out — you name it and he can play it. However, because of the freedom and challenge offered in the Elvin Jones Trio he is developing a special musical personality which is rapidly setting him apart from other multi-instrumental soloists.

James Garrison too, is well known for his ability to invent beautiful lines under the most incongruous of circumstances. Whether he is walking a swinging background or playing a duet with Joe he demonstrates a mastery of his instrument and a skillful approach to originating bass lines which not only stand out as models of good musical organization but important contributions to the overall musical fabric of which they are a part. Jimmy's intonation, use of low strings, the bow, and his way of strumming and using double stops make his performance take on a gypsy-like quality without ever losing any of its jazz validity or impetus. Slurs and pedal point are devices which he puts to good use and his solos are so well constructed that he communicates with his audience like a horn player. His beat is strong yet flexible and his responsive reactions to Elvin's musical flights of fancy are legendary.

Elvin Jones' drumming is one of the logical extensions of the musical directions first explored by Jo Jones back in the 1930's. Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, and Philly Joe Jones have all blazed new paths from this fountainhead, but it was Elvin who developed the concept of using the drums to make a continuous rhythmic comment on what was being played by the front line and in doing so he pointed out the paths now being trod by many "avant-garde" drummers.

His association with groups headed by strong musical personalities like his brothers Thad and Hank and later with J.J. Johnson prepared him well for the demands of working with John Coltrane. During his long, fruitful association with Trane he was given the freedom to experiment and develop his ideas with one of the most consistently creative improvisors in jazz so he not only found himself but founded a whole new school of drumming. His ideas have become an important part of the music being played by many new groups but in his own trio he continues to develop in his own special way. The subtlety of Hank and the quick witted surprises of Thad can be found in the artistry of the youngest of the Jones brothers but there are other elements too. He becomes totally involved in the creation of a piece of music and in doing so he completely involves his fellow musicians. When this happens in the context of his current trio the results are exciting.

The Elvin Jones Trio epitomizes the best in jazz in that it has become a tightly knit unit composed of three distinctly different parts. Here are three dedicated and tremendously talented musicians who, when it comes to jazz, are really "Puttin' It Together".

BILLY TAYLOR
Program Director WLIB-FM NYC

75th Anniversary Reissue Liner Notes

After leaving John Coltrane at the end of 1965 because Coltrane had hired a second drummer, Elvin Jones accepted an offer from Duke Ellington only to find that Duke was experimenting with two drummers as well!! So Elvin spent the next two years freelancing mostly around New York where clubs and jobs were plentiful.

In 1968, he decided to form his own group and quite naturally reached out to Jimmy Garrison, his partner of five years in the Coltrane quartet. Deciding to avoid piano or guitar, Elvin hired reedman Joe Farrell, whose credential at that point had included Jaki Byard and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. An exceptional and fluid improviser, Farrell also brought a lot of colors to the trio, doubling on tenor sax, soprano sax, alto flute and piccolo on this first album alone.

The program was a carefully chosen one, ranging from the standard "For Heaven's Sake" to the Brazilian tune "Reza" to jazz compositions by Farrell, Garrison, Jimmy Heath and others.

Saxophonist Dave Liebman who later worked with Elvin wrote, "I remember owning this record when it came out and being so excited by the reunion of Elvin and Jimmy along with such a versatile reed player as Joe Farrell. A chordless trio was still rather rare in 1968 and to hear the fullness of sound from the drums and the bass was thrilling. With most of the Blue Note recordings done at the famous Rudy Van Gelder studios (where Coltrane among others also recorded), Elvin was obviously very comfortable."

Michael Cuscuna