[JPL] Cosby / Joe Jones

[jaejazz at yahoo.com]

Here's another Larry about Joe...a classic...and I've heard this one from several reliable folks. Since we're talking about his smoking...Joe use to play at this place...again in Hampton...called the Strawberry Banks. He would play there frequently. The story goes that he started having this affair with a married woman. This went on for a while and one night the woman's husband shows up at the Banks. Joe was playing at the time and the guy walks up to him...pulls out a gun and shoots Joe in the chest. He then hauls ass out the venue. In Joe's left front shirt pocket was a metal cigarette lighter. The bullet hit the lighter and ricocheted off it...consequently perhaps sparing Joe his life. Oh yea, stuff of legends. 

Jae    

--- On Wed, 6/10/09, JASSavannah <jassav at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: JASSavannah <jassav at comcast.net>
> Subject: [JPL] Cosby / Joe Jones
> To: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
> Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 3:48 AM
> Great story, Jae.  I was going
> to mention the cigarette drooping from his
> lips, but didn't  (which was as much his trademark as
> his wonderful
> playing).  I am going to forward this to bassist Ben
> Tucker who played with
> him while Joe lived in Savannah at Ben's club "Hard Hearted
> Hannah's."
> 
> Great Story!
> 
> Larry
> 
> 
> ----- 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 
> --
> 
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