Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub (Remastered) Elvin Jones

• 1 Keiko's Birthday March (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 21:11
• 2 Ginger Bread Boy (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 08:32
• 3 13 Avenue B (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 16:39
• 4 My Funny Valentine (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 08:24
• 5 M.E. (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 20:06
• 6 On The Trail (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 19:46
• 7 Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 18:23
• 8 Raunchy Rita (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 03:55
• 9 Oleo (Live at Pookie's Pub, 1967) 16:14
• Total Runtime 02:13:10

Info for Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub (Remastered)

A thrilling, previously unissued live recording of Elvin Jones' quartet that captures the legendary drummer's emergence as a bandleader at a little-known NYC club where he had a weekly residency after leaving John Coltrane's band in the late 1960s. Featuring Joe Farrell on tenor saxophone, Billy Greene on piano, and Wilbur Little on bass, Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub was recorded between July 28-30, 1967, just two weeks after Coltrane passed on July 17.

Don Was says: “This hidden treasure is the missing link charting the trajectory from Elvin Jones’ tenure in the John Coltrane Quartet to the subsequent formation of his legendary trio with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison.”

Zev Feldman says: “I first became aware of these recordings of Elvin Jones at Pookie’s Pub back in 2011 and was looking for a label that would be a good fit and share my enthusiasm and excitement for the project. Luckily, I found the best home there is with Don Was at Blue Note. What better label to keep Elvin’s legacy burning bright than Blue Note? This is going to be a must-have for Elvin fans.”

Alvin Queen adds: “Elvin had unbelievable power. The foot pedal, sometimes the whole beater would go through the bass drum head and he’d keep playing and take his left hand and turn the whole bass drum around and keep playing without stopping. Elvin used to take nails and put them on the stage because he was so powerful, he might kick the bass drum off the stage.”

Ashley Kahn says: “There’s a distinct sense of time and space in other sonic details, like Pookie’s room-sound and the applause from an enthusiastic, if limited, number of patrons. Elvin’s audible vocalizations‚ grunting the structure of the tune, as well as the laughter between the musicians and candid stage chatter.

Whitney Balliett concludes: “It trampled traditional order… It delighted the mind and hammered at the guts.”

Elvin Jones was one of the most influential drummers in jazz history. He was born in Pontiac, Michigan on September 9, 1927, the youngest of 10 children that also included two elder brothers—Thad and Hank—who would also become jazz legends.

After moving to New York City, Jones worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Sonny Rollins before joining forces with John Coltrane and becoming a member of the saxophonist’s seminal quartet. During the 1960s, Jones recorded on numerous classic Blue Note albums including Freddie Hubbard’s Ready for Freddie, Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil, Joe Henderson Inner Urge, Larry Young Unity, and McCoy Tyner The Real McCoy.

After leaving Coltrane’s group, Jones signed with Blue Note as a leader in 1968 and began recording a series of remarkable albums for the label through the early 1970s that included Puttin’ It Together, The Ultimate, Poly-Currents, Genesis, and Mr. Jones.

Elvin Jones, drums
Joe Farrel, tenor saxophone
Billy Greene, piano
Wilbur Little, double bass

Digitally remastered

Elvin Jones
will always be best-known for his association with the classic John Coltrane Quartet (1960-65) but he has also had a notable career as a bandleader and has continued being a major influence during the past 30 years. One of the all-time great drummers (bridging the gap between advanced hard bop and the avant-garde), Elvin is the younger brother of a remarkable musical family that also includes Hank and Thad Jones. After spending time in the Army (1946-49), he was a part of the very fertile Detroit jazz scene of the early '50s. He moved to New York in 1955, worked with Teddy Charles and the Bud Powell Trio and recorded with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins (the latter at his famous Village Vanguard session). After stints with J.J. Johnson (1956-57), Donald Byrd (1958), Tyree Glenn and Harry "Sweets" Edison, Elvin Jones became an important member of John Coltrane's Quartet, pushing the innovative saxophonist to remarkable heights and appearing on most of his best recordings. When Coltrane added Rashied Ali to his band in late 1965 as second drummer, Jones was not pleased and he soon departed.

He went on a European tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and then started leading his own groups which in the 1990s became known as Elvin Jones's Jazz Machine. Among his sidemen have been saxophonists Frank Foster, Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Pepper Adams, Dave Liebman, Pat LaBarbera, Steve Grossman, Andrew White, Ravi Coltrane and Sonny Fortune, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, pianists Dollar Brand and Willie Pickens, keyboardist Jan Hammer and bassists Richard Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Wilbur Little and Gene Perla among others. Elvin Jones has recorded as a leader for many labels including Atlantic, Riverside, Impulse, Blue Note, Enja, PM, Vanguard, Honey Dew, Denon, Storyville, Evidence and Landmark.

This album contains no booklet.