Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Salute to Elvin
Jazz giants are leaving one by one. Today, one of the best drummers in the world Elvin Jones died of a heart failure. How many more is left? I once said the day B.B. King dies is the day the blues dies. I still believe that to this day.
All I have to say was that I was lucky to have seen Elvin Jones in concert last autumn before he passed away. That concert was a NAACP/Black Caucus tribute to Elvin, Hank Jones with the accompaniment of sax player Andrew White and bassist James King. Every single prominent jazz drummer in DC was in the audience that night. It was a night of great music, something that won't be repeated again.
The only way to keep jazz alive is to support the live performances. Next time when McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Ron Carter, Lou Donaldson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jimmy McGriff come in town, do me a favor and go see them. You won't regret it.
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