Friday, December 21, 2007

Jo Jones: Born To Swing


Not much information is available online about Born To Swing, a film documenting various alumni of Count Basie's finest band. I gather that it's a 50-minute British program from the early '70s.

Through the miracle of YouTube, segments from the film about drummer Jo Jones, tough tenor Buddy Tate and trumpeter Buck Clayton are posted here.

This footage shows Jones in his capacity as co-owner of a drum shop. One of the revelations to me is that Jones spoke with a twang not unlike that of Jay McShann's. I'm also amused by Gene Krupa's assertion that drummers should know when to curtail their solos.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if this out-of-print and largely forgotten film could be screened by the American Jazz Museum, either at the Gem in the museum's small theater?

2 comments:

  1. Wow, thanks for bringing this to my attention, HiB! I met Jo Jones backstage at Municipal Aud. circa 1973 after seeing him play at a Count Basie b-day celebration of some sort. What a cool cat!

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  2. Man, I'd love to hear more about that gig, Rick.

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