Elvin Jones/Richard Davis: Heavy Sounds (Verve By Request series) [VERVE]

Why you'll love it

This Verve By Request reissue comes on 180g vinyl in a gatefold jacket. It catches the drummer from John Coltrane's classic quartet and bassist Richard Davis in a session that started without a plan, with Jones even picking up an acoustic guitar for one track.

This edition

• Verve By Request series
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Stereo mix

About the album

Heavy Sounds is the dynamic album from American jazz drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Richard Davis, recorded in 1967 for Impulse!. Initially envisioned as a trio session with guitarist Larry Coryell, it took a different turn when Coryell couldn't make it. Producer Bob Thiele encouraged Jones and Davis to make something together anyway, leading to an impromptu 11½-minute duet of "Summertime." Davis recalled: "No discussion, no editing, no plan; I just started playing the melody, and there he was."

Inspired by that spontaneous collaboration, Thiele invited the duo back to the studio the next day, where Jones brought in saxophonist Frank Foster and pianist Billy Greene. Together they recorded the standard "Here's That Rainy Day," Greene's original "M.E." and two Foster compositions, "Raunchy Rita" and "Shiny Stockings." The session also produced "Elvin's Guitar Blues," with Jones on acoustic guitar playing an old blues tune taught to him as a child by a man named Red; he loved players like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

The album highlights the improvisational talents of its players and Jones's standing as a pioneering force in jazz, renowned for his rhythms and collaborative spirit. He described himself as not a real guitarist, which, for the record, is exactly what we say whenever someone asks us to fix the listening station.

Also at Kops: more Elvin Jones on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Impulse! / Verve (cat# A-9160).