[JPL] Cosby / Joe Jones

[Tom Reney]

Jae,
The lesson deep inside this hilarious improvisation by Cos is, as you state 
in your own vivid story, know your limits and shed like there's no tomorrow 
if your career goal happens to be jazz musician.  I've screened this clip 
several times for jazz history classes and other public addresses I've made 
on jazz.  Cosby's fame and the impact of his story on Dick Cavett and Jack 
Benny conveys something really profound about the music.

On another comedic note, I caught the brilliant stand-up Steven Wright the 
other night and heard him wonder if Miles Davis would have been named 
Kilometer Davis in Europe.


Tom Reney
Jazz à la Mode

WFCR
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jae Sinnett" <jaejazz at yahoo.com>
To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 12:34 PM
Subject: Re: [JPL] Cosby / Joe Jones



Yes Larry...this is him. Joe was an amazingly underrated pianist. His legend 
lives in this part as well. When I first started playing jazz I had heard 
about this pianist name Joe Jones. Everyone always talked about him. Use to 
play at a place in Hampton called Herman's. I thought I was the cat...based 
on those that new nothing about jazz telling me how great I was. I went to 
see Joe because I heard he liked to have folks sit in and smoke'um.

It was freezing that night and I walked in the place with my hands frozen. I 
think I sat down for five minute and he asked me to come up and play. He 
didn't know me but his drummer did. I said sure. The first tune was 
"Cherokee" at warp ninety. Never played that fast in my life and wasn't 
going to play it right then. This is why I found that Cosby skit so 
hilarious. Then after that I was getting up to go sit down and he said 
"no...play another one." He played "Take Five." I had never played odd 
meters at that time and he played it like it was nothing to him. That 
cigarette hanging off his bottom lip with his head tilted to keep the smoke 
from going in his eye...killin. Breaking up the time and such. I didn't have 
a clue where the one beat was.

I was humbled beyond belief. He taught me the most valuable lesson of my 
musical life and that was I needed to shed like it was an obsession IF I 
would be worth anything as a musician. I told him that he nor anyone else 
would ever do that to me again and no one has. He eventually started calling 
me for gigs and that was profound for my confidence. Joe and I had very deep 
discussions about the music. It's hard to explain what I got from him in 
that short period of time but I'm grateful in having a chance to thank him 
before he passed. Glad he was recognized and appreciated in your area.

Jae

--- On Tue, 6/9/09, JASSavannah <jassav at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: JASSavannah <jassav at comcast.net>
> Subject: [JPL] Cosby / Joe Jones
> To: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
> Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 11:59 AM
> Jae,
>
> I am assuming this is the same Joe Jone who came to
> Savannah in '83 and lived and played here the last years of
> his life. He is in the Coastal Jazz Association Hall
> of Fame: http://www.coastal-jazz.org/cjahalloffameii.html.
> He is somewhat of a legend among Savannah Jazz fans.
>
> Larry
>
> Larry Dane-Kellogg
> WHCJ 90.3 FM
> 19 E. 64th Street
> Savannah, GA 31405
>
> WHCJ: Critic's Choice For "Best of Savannah"
>
> "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the
> inexpressible is music."
>
> - Author Aldous Huxley , 1894 - 1963
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jae Sinnett" <jaejazz at yahoo.com>
> To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 10:13 AM
> Subject: [JPL] Cosby
>
>
>
>  Truly one of the funniest skits I've ever seen. Perhaps
> because as a drummer I experienced the exact same
> situation... on the same tune...Cos is talking about.
> Some... out of that older generation like to lay it on the
> younger folk when sitting in. I made that mistake years ago
> with the late great pianist Joe Jones. Maybe some of you
> heard of him. He was out of Virginia initially. Cosby is
> absolutely hysterical talking about his experience in this
> particular jam session but it's also obvious the man knows
> jazz. Hope you enjoy it.
>
>  http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/billcosbydrumming.html
>
>  Jae Sinnett
> --
>
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