Jo Jones' Trademark Snares Off Drumming

I've always loved the different ways that Jo Jones would play time with the snares turned off, so here are a few examples. I would strongly recommend listening to Jo Jones himself to hear the true beauty of these sounds. The greatness of Jo Jones cannot be overstated!
Here are links to some of the recordings I mention:
"Stompin' At The Savoy" with Teddy Wilson • Stompin' At The Savoy ...
"Stompy Jones" with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges • Stompy Jones
"Love Jumped Out" with Paul Quinichette • Love Jumped Out
"Cubano Chant" with the Jo Jones trio • Cubano Chant
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www.kevindorn.com
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[@letisauselo3369]

These drummers are very creative in every level. That is why they are so great!

[@woodruffbrian]

Love this Kevin! At the risk of contradicting you and the beautiful idea of fluidity and open-ness, brushes/snares off is ALWAYS what I prefer. The tessitura and frequency of the brush sound is so close to that of the snares, especially when the drums are tuned higher.

[@kevindorn]

Thanks, Brian!

[@paulstuartsmith2224]

Brilliant lesson Kevin, thank you.

[@kevindorn]

Thanks, Paul! Always wonderful to hear from you.

[@TheHeater90]

Regarding the "not quite all the way to the rim" cross stick thing: The first drummer I ever saw do it was Danny Barcelona with Louis Armstrong. You can see it on two of the live versions of Basin Street Blues from 1959 as well as in the studio footage from the I Ain't Got Nobody recording session from the same year. He may also be doing it on the live in Australia version of BSB, but the camera angle doesn't get a good view of it.

[@kevindorn]

I’ll look for that, thanks!

[@swingyoucats]

Speaking of being "in the moment," on Emerson's 1928 OKeh sides (issued in Serbia as RALPH'S TRANSCENDENTAL SIX) he changes from on to off in the middle of a four-bar break.

[@kevindorn]

Yes, and I believe Jo Jones was brought in to replace H.D. Thoreau, who was fired for refusing to wear a band uniform.

[@swingyoucats]

@@kevindorn Did you know Thoreau's bass drum beater was made from a woodchuck? THAT'S how he got that particular sound.

[@kevindorn]

@@swingyoucats We need to take this act on the road.

[@swingyoucats]

@@kevindorn What are the union rules about woodchucks?

[@bernardflegar8017]

@@kevindorn Kevin & Michael: I will be sitting in the first row!

[@Avaloctus]

tahnk you for all the great videos !!!! Keep it up.

[@kevindorn]

Thanks!

[@MikeTarrani]

Joe Morello often played with the snares off using sticks and brushes.

[@kevindorn]

Yes, he did that beautifully! Gus Johnson as well.

[@JonTigert]

I pull off a “snares off to snares on with sticks” song a lot on accident because I was playing brushes before and forgot.

[@kevindorn]

Haha, I've certainly done that as well! Maybe it even happened to Jo Jones sometimes...

[@petersorhage2.020]

Do you have a day job or can you make a living as a traditional jazz drummer ?

[@kevindorn]

I feel very fortunate to have been able to make a living as a traditional jazz drummer for the past 25 years. Hopefully I can continue to do it, as I really have no other skills (aside from a fair amount of James Bond knowledge)! I would be happy to talk about this more if you have any questions. In fact, I'll try to make a video about this topic soon because a number of people have asked about it.

[@petersorhage2.020]

@@kevindorn Thank you very much for the answer. I would love a video on that topic. It's great to hear that a talented musician can make a living these days !

[@kevindorn]

@@petersorhage2.020 Thanks, Peter! I'll try to do that one soon. All the best.

[@dretety1]

0ne also has to be in mind of the leader of the band, some may of insisted that snare's on..i'm thinking of Goodman, who would want to cross him!

[@kevindorn]

Good point, sometimes bandleaders will want a certain sound. What's funny is that as much as something like snares on vs. snares off might seem like such a big deal to us drummers, my experience has been that most other musicians tend not to notice or care about that kind of thing very much. In fact, the better the musician is (and I would put Benny Goodman at the absolute highest level), the less they tend to care about those kinds of specifics. The really great ones mostly just want it to swing and as long as the drummer is swinging, it usually doesn't matter to them how the drummer is doing it. In fact, you can hear Jo Jones playing brushes with Benny Goodman and he has the snares off. But I'm sure there are those who do have a strong preference and of course sometimes you need to do what the bandleader wants. Good to hear from you and as always, thanks for watching!