Jo "Philly" Jones, Drums, 1923, Philadelphia, Pa
Jo played drums from the age of four. His formal training was for three years with Cozy Cole, and his major early influences were Sid Catlett and Max Roach. After military service in the early '40s, Joe moved to New York in 1946 where he performed steadily at Cafe Society and accompianied musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, and Charlie Parker. In the late '40s Jones moved to Washington, D. C. where he continued to work with prominent jazz players. In 1951 he met Tad Dameron, who played an importrant role in Joe's career. He returned to New York in 1952 and worked at the Downbeat Club with the top players in jazz; Miles Davis, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. In 1953 he joined a group led by Tad Dameron with which he recorded later that year. Philly Joe worked with Miles Davis for three years, 1955-1958, and it is this association with Davis that Joe is best-known for. He made his home in London between 1967 and 1972, performing and teaching. In the late '70s he worked with Bill Evans for a year and then toured with Red Garland. In the early '80s he formed the group, Dameronia, a group that mainly performed the music of Tadd Dameron. A superb timekeeper and technician, he was especially noted for his work with brushes, as well as his cymbal playing and his carefully structured solos. Philly Joe Jones died in1985.
Joe Harriott, Saxophone, 1928, Kingston, Jamaica
During the 1940s Joe played for Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair and Dizzy Reece, and then, in 1951, emigrated to London where he freelanced as a soloist before joining Pete Pitterson's orchestra. It was while playing in Tony Kinsey's quartet and in Ronny Scott's big-band that he established his reputation as a first-rate jazz saxophonist. While confined to a hospital bed in 1960, Joe developed a new approach to abstract improvisation, which proved to be his major contribution to jazz. Although conceived independently, this was very much like the new music of Ornette Coleman, and Harriott was initially dismissed as an imitator. His playing linked his new ideas with the more straightforward bop styles of the period. From around 1965 Harriott began playing fusions of jazz with other elements and styles. During the final years of his life he worked with the poet, Michael Garrick and the Indian violinist John Mayer. Joe Harroitt died in 1973. He was a truly inventive jazz musician.
