ELVIN JONES GRAVELY ILL
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Posted by: Adminon Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 12:00 AM |
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(C) Len Dobbin
The following showed up today, April 27, 2004, on the “Jazz Program List” site from Larry Applelbaum.
“I saw Elvin last night at Yoshi's here in San Francisco.He could barely make it to the stage, his wife helping him sit and placing the sticks in his hand.
Elvin had trouble hitting the drums but his time and sound was
impeccable.
His wife made an announcement that Elvin was obviously very sick and
has been in the hospital for 3 months and she wanted him to spend his
last moments, at his wish, behind the drums.
He looked about like he weighed 75 pounds and was truly sick...it was
one of the saddest moments of my life. I was so used to seeing him
look fit, happy and powerful.
The last number was announced, Dear Lord, and his wife asked us all to
pray as she hugged him from behind the drums for the entire tune.
I could not stop crying...
Please send prayers to this legend, the great inspirational Elvin!"
and this, from an unidentified doctor, is from the Latin Jazz site:
“This might be beyond Latin Jazz, but this is the only egroup that I
think might be interested in the description of my experience during
a recent 4 days stay in the SF for a meeting. I was able to go to
Yoshi's to see Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. I am not that familiar with
his work, but knowing he was John Coltrane drummer and more recently
worked a lot with Candido with his poly-rhythm stuff that I wanted to
check him out. First of all, Yoshi's is a great modern place to see a
Jazz band, good acoustics, pretty big as well. The only problem is
that it is in the middle of a mall-like complex and after the last
set we were stranded, without a cab or even a person to help us out
to get back to SF. I tried to ask for somebody at Yoshi's to actually
call a cab for us or help us out, and he looked at me like "Are you
from another planet?" (and he was the last person there, once he
left, we were truly alone). Took us an hour to actually get back to a
BART (subway) station to head back to SF. But that is beyond the
point.
I was really eager to see Elvin Jones, waiting to see the Black
Thunder pounding those drums. The scenario was perfect, no mikes over
the drums so I though "wow, he can really pound those drums, eh?".
Well, the band came out (2 saxes, pianist and bassist) and the place
went crazy but...no Elvin...and no Elvin...and no Elvin. After about
5 minutes of constant applause, Elvin Jones came out, couldn't walk
and had to be helped by his wife and the band members. We were a
group of physicians and nurses and we all looked at each other with
the same expression in our faces "he is dying of heart failure". His
wife gave him the sticks and the band started playing a bebop-like
tune. It was quite an experience seeing him playing that night. The
stick in his right hand (hitting the cymbal) kept slipping back and
he needed to reposition it. He was certainly off, considering the
timing of the tune. I couldn't see his left hand, but I could not
hear any beats. Similarly with the hi-hat, I did not hear it all
night long. As the performance continued, he looked more ill...in
fact, he closed his eyes once, and grabbed his stomach as if he was
in pain, and everybody in my group got up because we though that he
was going to fall. He finally woke up and continued playing. He took
one solo all night long, and basically what he did was to drop the
sticks on the drum one at a time, at a very slow speed. He did not
have the strength or energy to lift up the sticks from the drum fast
enough. The band sounded great thought. I guess he is like Art Blakey
and surrounded himself with the best young players available. The
bassist kept the rhythm going all night long, working super hard and
the pianist would take very long solos, as both sax players. Elvin
could still swing at a very low speed, but was well complemented by
the bassist and pianist. At the end of the performance, his wife
whose name I couldn't catch, came out and said that Elvin Jones was
very ill, dying from heart failure. She also said that he had not
eaten anything that day but that she had fired his prior 3 physicians
when they said that he was dying and decided to take care of things
herself, booking him continuously until July (she also went on and on
talking about medical insurances, doctors, etc) Elvin did not said a
word all night long, and I actually wondered if was still coherent
enough (which is a common, late event in patients with heart
failure). He stayed there, sitting by his drums for about 20 minutes
after the performance was over. We all gave him a standing ovation, I
guess is the way of thanking him for what he has done. He did wave
goodbye as he was helped out of the stage. We sent him our cards as
there are some options for patients with advanced heart failure
(which we happen to specialize in our group).
I am not sure I can actually describe the feeling I had that night.
The music was good, and seeing him on the drums made me happy and
sad. Happy because I got to see him before the inevitable. Sad
because somebody like him should be at home, spending the last few
days of his life surrounded by family and friends. I know he also
needs our support (income as his wife put it). I haven't heard
anything about his health in the news, and patients with heart
failure have good and bad days, but I can actually say that he is in
bad shape, weakened by his illness (already cachectic). I will
forever have the image of an elderly Elvin Jones playing the drums
that night.”
Very sad! A wonderful person who it has been my pleasure to spend time with on a number of occasions.
Len Dobbin
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